You can have a fast and intuitive platform and even gather an active community. However, it all doesn’t count if you can’t securely accept and process payments. For marketplaces, the reliability of an online marketplace payment gateway equals the success of the platform.
Any type of marketplace — be it B2B, B2C, peer-to-peer, two-sided, or three-sided — handles a lot more financial operations. If you don’t have a safe payment online marketplace system to enable all these versatile transfers, your platform is done.
Benefits of using online marketplace payment solutions
- No mistakes. It’s easy to send a transfer to a wrong bank account, primarily if the platform operates with international banks. Firstly, the funds need to go to a particular bank account, then — to the main account of the company. During all these steps, you need to calculate multiple commissions and convert currencies. One mistake in confirming the operation — and the transfer won’t go through. For you, it means a lost client.
- No need to take responsibility for regulation compliance. An unreliable payment service creates an open door for hackers and thefts. If you accidentally leak your client’s data to a cybercriminal, you’ll be subject to funds.
- High compatibility. Ready-to-go payment solutions can be integrated with multiple development APIs; they have mobile versions and work on various screens and displays.
- Saving time for development and testing. When you integrate a ready solution with a direct pay online marketplace, you don’t need to ensure its performance quality, security, intuitiveness — the product developers do the work for you. You wouldn’t even need an in-house technical team — instead, it’s possible to outsource all development.
Factors for choosing a payment system
As you can already see, the provider of your payment system will be responsible for many things.
Security, functionality, fast performance even during low latency, compatibility with different devices — all these factors can influence users’ willingness to make a payment.
Here’s a rundown of features that you want your direct pay online marketplace to have.
1. Know Your Customer
KYC is a practice of collecting data needed for financial transactions. You need to collect personal information and financial data. A user has to enter name, address, email, birth date, and more. Some systems also require a copy of an ID — this is relevant for platforms that handle expensive purchases, like real estate.
2. Safety
All payments for online marketplaces should be protected by SSL encryption and correspond to local or international data collection standards — that depends on the location of marketplaces’ community. Each country has a domestic KYC policy. So, is marketplace payment safe if you use a third-party tool? Usually, yes, but to know the details, check a Security section on integration’s website.
3. Taxpaying
When you are just starting, overlooking taxes is tempting. When your business is only growing, you have more significant worries on your mind. However, most owners totally forget about this critical aspect once they actually start making profits. In the end, you are left vulnerable to legal punishments and fines. Better make sure that your best payment solution for the online marketplace has a revenue-reporting feature — so you don’t have to do it manually.
4. Escrow services
You can’t rely on the honesty of your marketplace users all the time. Escrow services use the platform’s bank account as an intermediary for payments for online marketplaces. A buyer transfers money to the platform instead of handing them directly to the seller — that party only gets funds once the service was fully delivered.
The principle behind this is simple: if the seller is shady, you are the one with the money, and you can quickly return it to the buyer. However, if the money was transferred directly to a user, you no longer have a say — but your reputation will be stained nonetheless. So, choosing a payment online marketplace service with an escrow option is a must for an online marketplace payment gateway.
5. Multilingual interface
People might still be okay with browsing the marketplace on the language they don’t fully understand. But when it comes to carrying out payments, we all want to be in the loop. So, even if your platform doesn’t have multilingual support, make sure your payment system does. You want to make each detail clear.
6. System fee
One of the main downsides of using a ready payment system is that a solution requires a fee. Some work on a subscription basis. Others depend on the number of transactions, while some prefer commission. Find out which fee model your preferred system offers and calculate if it’s profitable for you.
7. Support for versatile payment methods
Typical payment options are bank transfers, card transfers, and online wallet support — PayPal, Stripe, Payoneer, etc.
After having considered all the above, visit Syndicode to explore:
