What is a payment gateway?

Payment gateway is a technology used by a trader to accept debit or credit card purchases from their customers. The authorisation process can be provided by a bank to its customers and can also be provided by a specialised financial service provider as a separate service.

A payment gateway works when a customer orders a product from a merchant who has enabled the system, following which it performs a variety of tasks to process the transaction.

These online payment gateways require application programming interfaces that allow the retailer to communicate with the underlying payment processing network. A payment processor uses that information to charge the customers' bank or credit card provider. The brick-and-mortar store payment gateways utilise a POS terminal that connects to the payment processing network electronically using either a phone line or an internet connection.

The system has always been evolving to reflect consumers' technical capacities. Earlier, terminals used to accept credit cards with magnetic strips and needed paper signatures from the customer. But after chip technologies, the signature was removed in favour of a personal identification number entered directly into the payment gateway hardware.

Now, contactless purchases are available, with many opting for phones as a payment device instead of a plastic card. 

The architecture of a payment gateway will differ depending on whether it is an in-store gateway or an online payment portal. Online payment gateways will require application programming interfaces (APIs) that allow the website in question to communicate with the underlying payment processing network. In-store payment gateways will utilize a POS terminal that connects to the payment processing network electronically using either a phone line or an Internet connection.

There are various payment gateways in India that allow customers to make payments online, such as Citrus Pay Payment Gateway. It supports most credit cards and the payment process is quick and secure as Citrus Pay has high levels of security in place. CCAvenue Payment Gateway offers multiple payment options and is available in 18 different languages.

PayUBiz India Payment Gateway is a well-known payment gateway that supports cards, net banking, wallets, international cards, EMI, IVR payments, etc.

And then the Bill Desk. A lot of Indian banks are connected with Bill Desk to make the payment process simple, quick and safe.

And last but not least is UPI or Unified Payments Interface. This is an instant payment system, which has been developed by the National Payments Corporation of India and the interface is regulated by the Reserve Bank of India.