Free Payment Gateway in India: Busting the Myth

As various payment sources are available, like debit and credit cards, UPI, or other online transfers, many consumers prefer buying things online rather than offline mode. Due to this demand, both small and large businesses start accepting payments online. Accordingly, they require a suitable payment gateway that should offer different payment options for end consumers on their checkout web page and collect the payments on the website or mobile application. The payment gateway in India service providers partner with the banking organizations, card networks like Master, Visa, or other payment providers for making the collection of online payments successfully. With the integrated payment gateway, businesses can accept payments online from their customers easily via the website or application.

Have a look at the different features of different payment gateway providers before choosing the right one. The pricing plans of payment gateway determine the final decision of the integration by the businesses while many payment gateways provide a range of benefits. The ‘free payment gateway’ is the most preferable option for merchants. They need to understand the charges incurred by the payment gateway service providers for evaluating whether it is a real thing or not. They might also raise the following questions, such as:

• Which is the free payment gateway in India?
• Who provides the payment gateway free of cost in India?
• Which is the cheapest payment gateway in India for websites?
• Is any free payment gateway used for small businesses?
• Which is the popular payment gateway for its benefits and features?

Many business companies don’t know in-detail information about different payment gateway charges, like PSP fees, interchange fees, and MDR. It’s important to understand the operation of payment gateway in India and how much price is incurred by the payment processors.

Underrated facts about free payment gateways

In the recent past, it’s important to integrate the payment gateway with the robust APIs and SDKs to be in line with the growing online businesses across India. A free payment gateway in India refers to the one that has no maintenance and setup costs for businesses, who want to sell the products online. The business model has been changed over time with the improved technologies of digital payments

Free payment gateways have very limited features

Currently, many payment gateways are ready to integrate with zero annual maintenance or setup charges. They incur the service cost, like Merchant Discount Rate, which is the small percentage of the amount that is made transferred by the business user through the payment gateway in India. For example, when a customer purchases products worth Rs. 2000 from any business website and pays it using a credit card, the chosen payment gateway provider receives the part of this transaction that is paid by the company. If the MDR is 2% in this case, then the company gets Rs. 1960 into its concerned linked account and the remaining Rs. 40 pays as a fee to the payment gateway.

Every business wants to make this fee zero while the payment gateway processors ask for ensuring quick and secure payment transfers. For making the right selection of payment gateway providers, the integral part is to compare their prices. But, the pricing factor is not the only factor to finalize the business decision.

Which one should choose if not a free payment gateway?

Businesses or vendors allow the customers to make online payments is a secure and safe method. It demands to choose the most suitable payment gateway in India for any business that necessitates considering the below-mentioned factors, such as:

• The payment gateway should be easier to integrate and should allow immediate activation.
• Should support maximum payment options, like a credit card, debit card, bank account, net banking, etc. that makes it easier for customers to do the payments online.
• Should ensure security when processing the transactions on the e-commerce website or mobile application.
• Should include the quick payment settlement model for effective management of business funds.
• Should allow international payments for currency conversion easily.

After checking out all these features of different payment gateways, it’s better to look forward to comparing the pricing details only.

Payment Gateway Charges

Let’s discuss what the most common charges are incurred by payment gateways:

• Setup fee

This setup fee is a one-time settlement that charges when integrating the payment gateway into the business application or website. The fee is to cover the costs of the infrastructure and merchant onboarding.

• Annual or monthly maintenance fees

Based on different factors like activated payment mode, features of payment gateway, and types of integration, the maintenance fees differ that cover the software maintenance, operating expenses, etc. Some payment gateways provide risk or fraud prevention and management services and they charge more to provide these benefits.

•  Transaction discount rate

This fee is charged based on the payment mode used by the customer. The TDR is lower for net banking transactions while it is higher for international credit card payments.

In general, a free payment gateway doesn’t exist ideally for websites or applications. With the selection of the right payment gateway in India that comes with hidden costs, the businesses can avail of significant benefits, like higher customer satisfaction in terms of easier and quick payments.