Choose a payment gateway by modeling your own transaction volume, average order value, countries, currencies and payment methods, then comparing the resulting total cost, integration work, PCI DSS scope, fraud controls, payout behavior and support. The gateway with the lowest advertised percentage is not automatically the cheapest or safest choice.
For most online sellers, a hosted or embedded checkout component that keeps raw card numbers out of your systems is the sensible starting point. Add an EMV/NFC reader only if you also take payments in person.
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What a payment gateway actually does
A payment gateway is the checkout service that captures a customer’s payment details and sends the transaction for authorization. In an ecommerce flow, it connects your website or app to the payment networks and the account that receives settlement. Stripe describes card data being captured through a point-of-sale system, online gateway or other card-accepting device. Adyen defines an ecommerce gateway as a website or app service that accepts digital payments, routes them for authorization and provides security controls.
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The gateway is only one part of the payment stack. Your store platform, payment processor or acquirer, fraud tools, bank account and accounting system must work together. A gateway that authorizes cards but produces confusing payout files, lacks your required wallet or cannot issue subscription refunds can create more cost than its headline rate saves.
#1 Best Overall
- Accept all major credit and debit cards and pay one low rate
- No hidden fees and no long-term contracts
- Mobile card reader that accepts payments anywhere & anytime
- Use the free SumUp App on your smartphone or tablet to start accepting transactions
- Simply pay 2.6% +10 per in-person transaction
1. Map your business before looking at providers
Write down the facts below before requesting prices. They determine which fee model and features fit you.
Transaction pattern
- Expected transactions per month, including a low-volume month and seasonal peaks.
- Average order value and the range from your smallest to largest order.
- Refund frequency, partial refunds and any existing chargebacks.
- Whether orders are one-time purchases, subscriptions, invoices or a mixture.
Customers and markets
- Countries where you are legally able to sell and where you expect to settle funds.
- Currencies customers want to see and currencies in which your bank can receive payouts.
- Cards, digital wallets, bank transfers and local payment methods your customers request.
- Whether you need local acquiring, which can affect authorization, cross-border cost and regulatory requirements.
Operating model
- Your ecommerce platform and any requirement for a plugin rather than custom development.
- Staff who need access to refunds, disputes, reports or payout reconciliation.
- Sales channels beyond the website, such as markets, pickup locations, offices or a shop.
- Expected growth into additional countries, currencies, payment methods or sales channels.
Stripe’s gateway guidance likewise emphasizes transaction volume, typical transaction size, preferred methods, architecture and growth plans. Treat this inventory as a requirements document; do not let a sales demo define your needs for you.
2. Calculate total cost, not just the card rate
Build a spreadsheet with three scenarios: your current month, an expected-growth month and a low-volume month. For each, calculate:
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Adyen notes that percentage-and-fixed pricing models suit different transaction mixes. A percentage-heavy model can be painful when your average order is high; a large fixed component can dominate when orders are small. Include the engineering time to maintain webhooks, reconcile payouts and handle failed payments, not only the invoice from the provider.
| Cost element | What to check | Why it changes the decision |
|---|---|---|
| Percentage fee | Rate by card type, country, wallet and payment method | The same sales volume can cost different amounts when the payment mix changes. |
| Fixed fee | Amount charged on every successful transaction | It has a larger effect on low-value orders. |
| Monthly or minimum charges | Account, gateway, reporting or minimum-volume commitments | These can make a low-volume month unexpectedly expensive. |
| Setup and integration | Developer work, plugin limits, testing and future maintenance | A nominally cheap gateway can require costly custom work. |
| Currency conversion | Conversion spread or fee when the sale and payout currencies differ | International revenue can lose more to conversion than to the base transaction rate. |
| Cross-border and acquiring | International-card and cross-border charges; availability of local acquiring | These affect both margin and authorization in overseas markets. |
| Chargebacks | Dispute fee, lost sale, evidence work and any reserve impact | High-dispute products need strong tooling, not only a low processing rate. |
| Support and operations | Support access, reconciliation effort, export quality and incident handling | Staff time and delayed cash are real payment costs. |
Stripe’s 2024 small-business guide reports US$187.2 billion in processing fees, attributing the figure to a cited source. That is an industry-scale figure, not a rate or forecast for your store; use your own transactions and current quotes instead.
Use your effective cost per order
Divide the scenario’s complete payment cost by the number of successful orders. Then repeat the calculation after adding refunds, disputes and currency conversion. Compare that result with the value of features you would otherwise have to buy or build, such as subscription billing, tax-ready invoices, fraud review and payout reconciliation.
Rank #2
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- Ergonomic and cost efficient design
3. Verify payment methods and geography
Make a country-by-country acceptance list before signing up. Confirm all of the following in writing:
- Supported card networks and digital wallets.
- Bank-transfer and other local payment methods used by your target customers.
- Presentment currencies, settlement currencies and the bank countries that can receive payouts.
- Whether the provider offers local acquiring or routes international transactions cross-border.
- Business-registration, identity, tax and other country regulations that apply.
- Payout schedule, cut-off times and the possibility of an initial reserve or delayed settlement.
A gateway can be excellent for domestic cards but unsuitable for a market where customers expect a local bank method. Conversely, activating every available method can add integration, reconciliation and fraud complexity. Start with methods that represent real demand, then add others when their conversion benefit justifies the operational work.
4. Check integration before you compare logos
Confirm that the gateway has a supported integration for your ecommerce platform. A maintained plugin may be preferable to custom API work for a small team, but inspect what the plugin actually supports.
Checkout and data flow
- Hosted checkout, embedded fields or a fully custom form, and what each option requires for PCI validation.
- Tokenization so returning customers and subscriptions do not require your system to store raw card numbers.
- Clear success, failure, cancellation and asynchronous webhook events.
- Compatibility with your storefront, mobile experience, tax logic and inventory updates.
Back-office functions
- Full, partial and subscription refunds.
- Invoices, recurring billing, retries and customer payment-method updates.
- Settlement reports that reconcile to individual orders and your bank deposits.
- Exports or API access for accounting, analytics and a future migration.
Stripe recommends choosing an architecture that avoids compatibility problems between checkout and bank deposits. Adyen highlights a platform model built around one API and one contract; the practical question is whether that simplicity fits your countries, methods and internal systems, not whether a single contract is inherently better.
5. Keep PCI DSS in your design
PCI DSS applies to merchants of every size. The PCI Security Standards Council states: “PCI DSS is intended for all entities involved in payment processing, including merchants, regardless of their size or transaction volume.” Your acquiring bank and payment brands set the validation level and Self-Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ) that apply to your setup.
Outsourcing card capture can reduce the systems you must secure, but it does not remove your responsibility. Ask each provider:
- Who hosts the payment page or card-entry fields?
- What SAQ and annual validation does the proposed integration support?
- Who patches checkout scripts and dependencies?
- What evidence of the provider’s PCI compliance can you review?
- How are tokens, keys, logs and staff permissions managed?
PCI DSS v4.0.1 requirements took effect on April 1, 2025, according to the PCI SSC’s February 28, 2025 FAQ. The same FAQ explains that certain embedded payment pages have script-protection conditions for eligibility for SAQ A. Do not assume an iframe or JavaScript field automatically gives you the simplest assessment; verify the exact implementation and its script controls.
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- Manage business cards efficiently. Complete set of management functions provided for editing of information, assigning multiple categories and also adding of individual information and photos.Search by keyword.
- Quickly and efficiently find your contacts with "Text Search" and "Advanced Search" functions. Clicking on the address or website in card information fields will link to the map and contact's website directly.
Small-merchant security checklist
- Use a PCI-compliant provider and minimize every system that handles raw card data.
- Keep storefront scripts, plugins and server software patched.
- Use encryption in transit and tokenization for stored payment references.
- Restrict dashboard, refund and API-key access to staff who need it; use strong, unique credentials and multifactor authentication where available.
- Inspect physical terminals for tampering and keep them in staff view.
- Use PCI-validated payment applications and service providers.
PCI SSC’s small-merchant material also contains breach and cost figures drawn from 2016–2017 sources. Those numbers are historical context, not current breach probabilities, processing rates or loss estimates.
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Ask how the gateway balances fraud prevention with legitimate authorization. Useful capabilities include:
- 3-D Secure authentication with clear rules for when a customer is challenged.
- Risk scoring using device, account, transaction and behavioral signals.
- Velocity rules that limit repeated attempts, cards or addresses.
- Manual-review queues and the ability to override a false positive.
- Dispute alerts, evidence submission and a record of the original authorization data.
- Authorization optimization, retries and explanations for false declines.
Adyen identifies 3-D Secure, fraud protection and authorization optimization as value and cost factors. Compare the controls with your product’s risk: a digital download, a subscription and a made-to-order physical item can have very different dispute patterns. Excessive blocking is also expensive because a declined legitimate order produces no revenue and may send the customer to a competitor.
7. Evaluate payout behavior, support and resilience
Payment problems become business problems when funds are held or a refund cannot be explained. Before approval, read the operating terms and ask:
- How long after authorization does money become available, and when does it reach your bank?
- Under what circumstances can the provider delay payouts, create a reserve or suspend an account?
- How are refunds shown in reports, and how long do they take to reach a customer?
- What live-support hours and escalation paths exist during an incident?
- How are outages communicated, and is there a status page or incident history?
- Can you export transactions, customers, disputes and payout details if you migrate?
These terms can matter more than a small difference in the advertised rate. A gateway that saves a fraction per order but leaves cash inaccessible during a peak season may cost more than it saves.
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8. Decide whether you need in-person hardware
An online-only business does not need a card reader. If you also sell at markets, pickup points, an office or a storefront, choose an ecosystem that supports a secure EMV and NFC reader and can report online and in-person sales coherently.
PCI SSC recommends secure EMV-capable terminals and PIN-entry devices, PCI-validated payment applications and service providers, and encryption or tokenization. Confirm that the reader is supported in your country, receives security updates, handles contactless wallets and maps each in-person payment to the correct order or register. Buying hardware before confirming those points can leave you with a device that cannot settle to your account or share inventory with your store.
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9. Compare actual provider options without assuming a universal winner
Stripe, PayPal, Square, Adyen and a locally strong acquirer or processor are reasonable names to place on a shortlist. No universal “cheapest” provider or ranking can be stated without your country, volume, average ticket, payment mix and current quotes. Use the matrix below as a due-diligence worksheet, not as a product scorecard.
| Candidate | Effective cost | Methods and geography | Integration and PCI scope | Fraud and disputes | Payouts, support and growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stripe | Model percentage, fixed, conversion and cross-border costs for your account; current terms vary by country. | Confirm every required wallet, bank method, currency and settlement country. | Compare hosted and embedded components, plugin support, webhooks and the SAQ for your architecture. | Verify 3-D Secure, risk rules, review and dispute workflows. | Check payout timing, reserves, support, exports, subscriptions and future markets. |
| PayPal | Obtain a country-specific quote and include refunds, disputes and currency conversion in the model. | Check which customer payment methods and receiving currencies are available to your business. | Test the checkout and reconciliation path on your platform; document PCI responsibilities. | Review authentication, fraud settings, false-decline handling and evidence tools. | Read hold, reserve, payout, support and account-closure terms before launch. |
| Square | Calculate online and, if relevant, in-person costs at your actual ticket size and volume. | Confirm that your business country and required methods are supported. | Check ecommerce connectors, APIs, subscriptions, refunds and unified reporting. | Assess available risk controls and dispute assistance for your product category. | Verify reader compatibility, payout schedule, support and expansion limits. |
| Adyen | Request pricing that reflects your methods, markets, acquiring route and transaction mix. | Check local methods, currencies, local acquiring and country-specific onboarding. | Evaluate the one-API model against your team’s integration and reconciliation capacity. | Compare 3-D Secure, fraud protection and authorization-optimization controls. | Review contract, reserves, support, reporting and the cost of adding markets. |
| Local acquirer or processor | Ask for all percentage, fixed, monthly, minimum, cross-border and chargeback charges in writing. | Confirm domestic method coverage, settlement country and currency options. | Verify a maintained platform plugin, API quality, tokenization and PCI documentation. | Ask about 3-D Secure, risk scoring, manual review and dispute evidence. | Compare local support, payout reliability, hardware and an expansion path. |
For each candidate, run a small test transaction and refund in a non-production environment if available. Confirm that the order, webhook, payout report and refund all reconcile; a successful checkout alone does not prove operational fit.
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Low-volume or occasional store
Prioritize no or low recurring commitments, a maintained platform integration and clear support. A higher per-transaction rate may be cheaper than monthly minimums when your order count fluctuates. Model the low-volume month rather than relying on a busy-season estimate.
High average order value
Fixed fees matter less than percentage, cross-border and currency-conversion costs. Request volume pricing and calculate the full cost per order, including reserves and chargebacks.
Subscriptions or memberships
Require tokenized payment methods, recurring billing, retries, customer update flows, proration and partial refunds. Confirm how failed renewals appear in webhooks and reports before migrating recurring customers.
International expansion
Start with the countries and methods that generate demand. Verify local acquiring, regulations, settlement currencies and payout timing for each market. A single integration is valuable only if it supports the methods customers actually use.
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Select a gateway ecosystem that supports secure EMV/NFC hardware, shared customer and product records, refunds across channels and unified reporting. Online-only merchants should not pay for hardware or a retail feature set they will never use.
11. A practical selection and launch procedure
- Record monthly volume, average order value, refunds, disputes, subscriptions, countries, currencies and required methods.
- List your ecommerce platform, accounting system, fulfillment flow and any in-person channel.
- Shortlist two or three gateways plus a strong local acquirer; reject any that cannot support a required country or method.
- Request written pricing that includes percentage, fixed, recurring, conversion, cross-border, chargeback and hardware charges.
- Build current-volume, growth and low-volume scenarios and calculate effective cost per successful order.
- Document checkout architecture, tokenization, webhook behavior, refund paths and payout reconciliation.
- Ask for PCI documentation, the applicable SAQ, script-protection requirements and security responsibilities.
- Test 3-D Secure, a declined payment, a successful payment, a partial refund, a dispute workflow and a payout export.
- Read reserve, hold, suspension, incident-support and data-export terms; identify a human escalation contact.
- Launch with monitoring for authorization rate, false declines, refunds, disputes, payout timing and customer complaints, then review the decision as volume or geography changes.
12. Mistakes that make a gateway expensive
- Choosing the lowest advertised rate: Recalculate with fixed fees, conversion, cross-border charges, disputes, support and engineering time.
- Ignoring payment-method demand: Check local wallets and bank methods before launch; card-only checkout can reduce conversion in some markets.
- Assuming small means exempt from PCI DSS: Every merchant remains in scope, even when a provider hosts card capture.
- Treating a plugin as the whole integration: Test webhooks, refunds, subscriptions, reports and bank reconciliation, not only the payment button.
- Overlooking payout and reserve terms: Understand when cash can be delayed and keep a contingency for refunds and disputes.
- Adding hardware unnecessarily: Online-only sellers need no reader; buy one only for a real in-person channel and verify EMV/NFC and PCI support.
- Blocking too aggressively for fraud: Measure false declines and provide a review path so legitimate customers are not lost.
- Failing to plan an exit: Confirm exports for transactions, tokens where portable, customers, disputes and payout history before depending on one provider.
Make the choice with a documented trade-off
The right gateway is the one that accepts the methods and countries your customers require, fits your platform without fragile custom work, keeps PCI scope manageable, controls fraud without excessive false declines and delivers predictable payouts and support at your actual volume. Record the assumptions behind your cost model and revisit them when your average order, payment mix or geography changes. That process produces a defensible choice even when provider pricing and availability move.
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