Advancements in e-businesses have changed the way money is transferred. At a basic level, online money transfer serves as an electronic alternative to traditional paper methods. But it should also be secure, cost-effective and user-friendly. A payment gateway is an e-commerce application service provider to authorize credit card payments for e-businesses, online retailers and bricks & clicks models.
A payment API, also known as payment gateway API or payment processing API, operates to integrate a payment solution with another, existing application, such as connecting a business’s checkout function to the payment system. Unlike hosted checkout pages, payment gateway APIs allow businesses to accept payment from customers on-site, avoiding the risk of shopping cart abandonment. Regarding payment APIs, as an overall rule, developers should pay attention to payment API flexibility.
Now, What is Payment API Flexibility? Payment gateway API flexibility is business flexibility. It’s about providing the flexibility of security, convenience and design in the payment system for the merchant and their customer both, through customization options. Take for example, businesses may want multiple currencies supported, the option to set both one-time and recurring payments, and naturally, to be able to accept payments across devices, according to what their customers want to use.
If you’re able to look at and find all possible features in a payment gateway API, remembering the importance of a flexible payment system, you will most certainly pick the payment API that fits technical and business needs alike.
From a developer perspective, integrating payments into your software can yield many benefits to you and the users. It can provide an enhanced customer experience, streamlined operations, improvised security — the list goes on and on.
But with so many payment APIs out there in the market, choosing the right one for your business can be overwhelming. So, we’ve put together the key features that developers can opt for in a flexible payment gateway API to ensure a seamless integration.
Starting with the basics, documentation is your main tool for implementing an API, and will therefore determine the quality of your integration experience. When evaluating your desired payment APIs, start by taking a look at documentation. Is it both clear and concise? Does it include sample code and tutorials? Is it formatted in a way that is easy to navigate? Make sure you have positive answers to all these questions before moving forward.
Linking to the previous point, it’s important to stress usability. No one wants to waste time and money on a long, complex integration process. The easiest API to use is one that is fast, simple and easy to implement. The structure of the API should be straightforward and consistent, and give you clear error messages when something isn’t working correctly.
When it comes to accepting payments, security is key. Your payment processor API of choice should go the extra mile to secure sensitive cardholder data, both when capturing and storing it, in order to protect both you and your customers from a data breach.
You want to give customers as many options as possible when it comes to making purchases, and integrating with a processor that offers an omnichannel solution will allow you to do so. Choosing a payment API that offers shoppers multiple ways to pay, whether it’s via point-of-sale, mobile, or online will increase both sales and customer satisfaction.
Certain features must be included in any API, such as error handling, data validation or different authentication processes. Make sure to choose a payment processing API with all the functionalities that will prove essential to your customers.
When it comes down to payment API flexibility, a payment gateway should allow you to integrate with ease and offer features that will improve the overall checkout experience for everyone involved. Putting the effort into researching APIs will not only save you time and money but will also give you the confidence that you chose the perfect solution for your business.
