As an entrepreneur who enjoys complete command over business operations, constructing your own payment gateway might appeal to you. Constructing a payment gateway from the ground up offers an array of unmatched personalization possibilities, empowering you to align the user interface with your customer’s preferences. However, it’s paramount to maintain an awareness of the detailed hurdles that inherently accompany this undertaking. Crafting a payment gateway for your website is not just about integrating it into your existing systems but also ensuring security, compliance with regulations, and scalability to handle growing transaction volumes. Let’s dive deeper into the process of creating your unique payment gateway while also touching upon some crucial considerations to remember during this journey. Whether it’s about identifying the right technical resources, understanding the regulatory landscape, or managing customer data, a well-thought-out approach can help you navigate this challenging yet rewarding endeavor.
What is a payment gateway?
Before embarking on the journey to create your own payment gateway, it’s essential to grasp its fundamental role. A payment gateway allows your website to accept and process payments made via credit and debit cards. Acting as the intermediary between the customer, your business, and the payment processor, its key duties include:
- Presenting a payment portal or checkout page for customers to enter their payment details.
- Encrypting this delicate information.
- Transmitting it to the payment processor or bank.
- Remember to incorporate these essential functions when crafting your payment gateway and ensure it aligns with PCI standards and the latest legislation against fraud.
Which businesses are generally inclined to explore the creation of payment gateways? Usually, larger entities that prefer eliminating the dependency on third-party solutions or those witnessing rapid expansion and requiring a bespoke solution to cater to their specific needs show a keen interest in such endeavors.
How to build a payment gateway? The exact procedure for building a payment gateway will hinge on your unique business requirements, but most enterprises will follow a pathway similar to the one below.
Establish the infrastructure for your payment gateway. You would require a self-hosted or third-party server to host your gateway. If you opt for your own server, you need to plan for audits and upkeep of related data centers.
Decide on a payment processor. The payment gateway collaborates with a processor to accomplish online transactions. The processor could be a banking institution, a card network, or an independent entity. Regardless, you’ll need to procure the processor’s API documentation and adhere to its implementation guidelines. Additionally, you’ll have to design an external API to enable the transfer of client payment data.
Construct a system for Customer Relationship Management (CRM). Once you have set up the basics of payment processing, you should consider building a bespoke tool to oversee transactions and client data. An effective CRM system functions as an organized customer database, maintaining consolidated client details and their preferred payment and contact information.
Incorporate security measures. Remember, when you develop your own payment gateway, you are responsible for all cardholder information. Hence, it’s critically important to include tools like tokenization, which separates credit card data from your online store’s server. Tokenization substitutes credit card numbers with anonymous tokens. Furthermore, you should comply with all PCI DSS regulations when handling credit cards.
Acquire necessary certifications. Beyond PCI auditing, you should seek 3DS certification from EMV (Europay, Mastercard, Visa). This global certification is a prerequisite for processing customer bank cards equipped with a chip.
Pros and cons of creating a custom payment gateway
Should you consider creating a payment gateway? Several advantages and disadvantages need to be contemplated.
Payment gateway pros:
- Potential decrease in monthly and per-transaction fees over time
- Complete control over the payment processing operations
- Capability to develop bespoke features to suit your needs
- Opportunity to monetize your payment gateway services by offering them to other businesses
Payment gateway cons:
- Substantial initial costs, encompassing necessary certifications, developer charges, and audit fees
- Extended set-up duration, inclusive of development, UX testing, and continuous maintenance
- More significant personnel requirements compared to ready-made solutions
- The entire burden of ensuring security lies solely with you
Create a payment gateway: alternative options.
If you’re constrained by time, finances, or the lack of skilled developers, opting for a ready-made payment gateway like UniPay is a simpler alternative to constructing your own. UniPay offers a pull-based Direct Debit solution not plagued by high per-transaction costs or failure rates typical with card payments. It also provides an Instant Bank Pay service for same-day payments, ensuring immediate payment confirmation for added peace of mind. Not only does it streamline operations, but it also provides cost savings, being, on average, 54% more affordable than similar online card transactions.
UniPay: Your reliable partner.
UniPay is an established platform that aids businesses in building their own payment gateways, making the process simpler and more efficient. UniPay brings various features and solutions, all crafted to assist you at every stage of the journey.
UniPay provides a robust and flexible framework that can be used as the foundation for your payment gateway. The framework is flexible and scalable. It offers you the ability to choose components best meet your business needs.
It also offers an extensive API tool suite that simplifies the integration process with various payment processors and financial institutions. The platform emphasizes strong security measures, including PCI DSS-compliant solutions, to help protect your and your customer’s sensitive data. It includes features like tokenization and fraud detection tools that are key to maintaining a secure payment environment.
Whether you’re a burgeoning startup or a well-established firm seeking to refine your payment procedures, UniPay is a dependable ally in crafting a custom-made, secure, and streamlined payment gateway designed to cater to your requirements.
