A payment gateway is a hardware and software complex that processes payments for financial services. It encrypts processed data and is responsible for correct authorization of clients.
Payment gateway only provides switching between buyer and seller. Payment systems are responsible for accepting money.
In most cases, these are different systems, but large companies combine the two services into one, such as Paypal. It is a payment system and provides a secure data transfer at the same time.
Principle of operation
A payment gateway works in the following way. A customer orders a product at an online store and proceeds to a payment page. Then he enters bank card details on the payment system’s website. The gateway sends the received information to the acquiring bank.
Then the bank sends an authorization request to one of the international payment systems (Mastercard, Visa). It confirms the payment by sending an authorization code through the bank-acquirer.
At that point, the user receives an SMS from the bank whose card is used to make the payment. He enters the numbers on the site and receives confirmation of the successful operation.
The process itself takes a few seconds, but delays are possible. They occur because of the large number of simultaneous requests that come through the payment gateway.
Advantages of
- Full automation and fault tolerance. It is reached due to several gateways integration on the site.
- Operational mode 24*7*365.
- Information is transmitted via HTTPS and encrypted with different keys. Users receive reliable service, which does not transfer data to the third parties.
- Consumers of payment systems do not buy hardware and specialized software. Suppliers are responsible for that.
- Payment and bank card data is provided only to the gateway, not to the vendor.
The payment gateway is part of a process called online payment. It is responsible for the reliability and security of the data transfer between the buyer and the merchant. All information is encrypted and is not available to third parties.
When choosing a service, you should focus on the platform with which the online store works. It supports only certain types of gateways. In the future, the number can be increased or decreased.
