WordPress Payment Gateways: Everything You Need to Know

If you run an online business, setting up a reliable WordPress payment system is a crucial step to getting paid for your products or services. Whether you’re selling physical items, digital downloads, or offering services, adding secure and convenient payment methods to your WordPress site opens the door to more sales and happier customers. In this guide, we’ll walk you through popular payment gateways you can install and use to accept payments directly from your site.

What is a Payment Gateway?

It is a merchant provider that acts as an agent between your customer, your site, and the installment processor. It’s a standalone app that authorizes payments and interfaces to your site and to its own processor servers. Payment Gateways is responsible for using a secure app and secure connection.

There are important reminders before setting up your WordPress payment options, including:

• Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) - PCI DSS compliance means that the merchant provider should follow the information security standard for anyone handling major credit cards.
• Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) Certificates - If you are running an e-commerce site, it’s highly recommended that you obtain SSL certificates.
• Plugin Compatibility - Make sure that your preferred payment gateway has a plugin that will deliver what you need and be compatible with your site’s theme.
• User Experience - The payment gateway plugin should be tested to guarantee its capability to deliver the most effective user experience during checkout and after.

Common WordPress Payment Gateways

PayPal

PayPal is one of the most popular WordPress payment gateways. Most online retailers and service providers accept PayPal because it can accept payment from PayPal accounts, credit cards, debit cards, and even some gift cards.

PayPal charges a processing fee of around 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction. This differs depending on your account so check when setting up.

Stripe

Stripe is another payment gateway for WordPress payments. It’s a top choice if you plan on doing a lot of international business. It accepts over 100 foreign currencies and converts them automatically. It also interacts with other payment gateways such as Apple Pay, Google Pay, and others, and can accept recurring payments for subscriptions or other regular payments.

Stripe also charges a processing fee of 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction.

Authorize.net

Authorize.net isn’t quite as popular as PayPal or Stripe, but it is still common on the web. It offers advanced fraud detection services for free, among other services. Here, you can have a QuickBooks sync option and the ability to accept multiple currencies.

Authorize.net charges a monthly fee of $25 plus a $0.10 transaction fee and a $0.10 per day batch fee. If there is a payment dispute, Authorize.net will charge you $25 to handle it but will refund that if it finds it in your favor.

Amazon Pay

Aside from brand recognition, one of the most significant benefits of using Amazon Pay is that, unlike PayPal, shoppers don’t have to leave your website to complete their payments. Users can log in with their Amazon accounts and complete “in-line” purchases in a familiar and smooth checkout process.

There is a user advantage with this if your customers have Amazon accounts. They log into their account once and can pay anywhere across the internet that supports Amazon Pay.

Amazon Pay doesn’t charge monthly fees but charges 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction on average.

Square

Square is a payment gateway for WooCommerce stores. It combines online payments with real-life transactions in stores and anywhere you care to sell. It works with a WooCommerce extension that sits in WordPress and can enable fast payments for any product you sell using WooCommerce.

It supports recurring payments and online payments, remote terminals, and a range of other technologies to widen your reach.

Square charges 1.9% and 2.9% transaction fee depending on location.

Review

Choosing the right WordPress payment option really comes down to what works best for you and your customers. PayPal is simple and widely trusted, Stripe is perfect for global sales, and Authorize.net gives you extra security features. Amazon Pay makes checkout quick for Amazon users, while Square is great if you sell both online and in person. Each has different fees and perks, so pick the one that fits your business and the kind of checkout experience you want to give your customers.