In the face of competition, many e-commerce merchants still have an outdated payment gateway that impedes their business progress and gives their competition an advantage. A lot of merchants in Malaysia are reluctant to switch to a more modern payment provider as the migration process seems risky with the potential risk of losing sales and revenue.

With the right knowledge and preparation, it is easy enough to achieve an efficient and effective migration.

In this article, we'll provide you with essential tips to make your gateway migration smoother and help you mitigate the risks associated with the process.

Why Businesses Tend to Switch to a New Payment Gateway

Demand from Tech-savvy Customers

The majority of consumers in Malaysia consider themselves "digitally curious" and show a clear preference for e-wallets, with 76% favoring them for online shopping. As technology advances, customers are becoming increasingly tech-savvy, leading to higher expectations when shopping online.

In light of this trend, delivering a seamless and customer-preferred payment experience has ascended to the top of most businesses' priority list. To accommodate the increasingly tech-savvy clientele, businesses are opting to migrate to a new payment gateway to meet the escalating demand.

Outdated Checkout Solutions

Digital transformation can appear daunting and complex for many businesses, with challenges such as budget constraints or the lack of a systematic approach to implementing new technology. Consequently, some businesses continue to utilize outdated payment gateways that offer less security and flexibility compared to their modern counterparts.

Continuing to work with a payment gateway with not up-to-date solutions, you could be missing out on valuable features that could help optimize your checkout process.

Switching to a modern payment gateway not only enriches the customer experience but also ensures your business remains relevant in this rapidly evolving market. For more insight, consider reading our article on 3 reasons why you should switch to a modern payment gateway.

How to Prepare to Migrate to a New Payment Gateway

Identify Current Problems

Before implementing a new payment gateway, it’s important to pinpoint any current issues with the existing system. This will ensure that you have clear requirements and can create a long-term plan to ensure that the offerings provided by the new payment gateway align with your business needs in the long term.

Consider the following questions:

• Have your customers reported issues when making payments on your website? What kind of feedback have they shared?

• Are you noticing drop-offs/cart abandonments at the checkout stage?

• Are there any risks of security breaches or fraud happening with your current payment gateway?

• Are you experiencing service disruptions during peak sales dates when transactions spike?

• Is your team able to access payment data in real-time to provide efficient support to customers?

Determine Your Needs

Next, it's vital to clearly define your needs and preferences. Begin by evaluating features like the ability to customize the checkout page to reflect your brand. Or you might prioritize effortless integration or enhanced security to safeguard your business if those are some of the gaps you’ve identified.

Having a clear checklist of your business requirements ensures you can navigate through the myriad of choices without feeling overwhelmed. It also ensures that your selection closely aligns with your business objectives.

For a deeper dive into this topic, refer to our article on "What to look for in a payment gateway".

Navigate Learning Curves

When planning for a payment gateway migration, remember that your internal team might require time to familiarize themselves with the new system. To reduce possible downtime and guarantee a seamless transition, think about offering training sessions for your team. Additionally, be prepared for some initial slowdown. By meticulously planning and equipping your team with the necessary knowledge, you can ensure a successful payment gateway migration.

Announce the Disruption

Informing your customers ahead of time about possible disruptions can help manage their expectations and lessen any potential frustration or confusion caused by payment processing interruptions. Being proactive in your communications can help retain customer loyalty and reduce the chance of losing businesses due to payment-related challenges.

Backup Your Data

Before migrating to a new payment gateway, make sure to secure your data by backing up all the payment-related information, including transaction history, customer details, and payment settings. This will help mitigate the risk of any unexpected data loss during the migration process.

To help with your research for potential payment gateways, you can check our article Payment Gateway 101: The Ultimate Guide For Malaysian Businesses.

4-step Of Migrating To Opn Payments

Based on the onboarding process at Opn Payments, the average migration process typically spans around 2 weeks. However, the exact duration can vary depending on the nature of your business and its specific needs.

You can migrate to a new payment gateway through these 4 steps:

Migrating your payment gateway is a pivotal move in improving your business's transaction efficiency. As the Malaysian market progresses, ensuring that your customers experience the most secure and seamless payment method becomes increasingly essential.

What You Can Expect From Switching to Opn

Transitioning to a new payment system might seem like a daunting task, both in terms of cost and complexity. But at Opn Payments, we've simplified this process for businesses. Our integration is straightforward and cost-effective. There is no setup or annual maintenance fees.

Once you partner with Opn, a real-time reporting dashboard becomes instantly available, granting you access to crucial transaction data and customer insights. This wealth of information empowers you to enhance business decision-making and refine customer engagement.

We prioritize your business continuity and provide an efficient transition for any integration you choose, without charging any set-up fees. Our solutions are developer-friendly with some requiring no coding at all. Opn Payments offers comprehensive documentation and technical support team to assist you every step of the way.

Trusted by more than 20,000 businesses across Southeast Asia, Opn Payments is a modern payment gateway that provides businesses with real-time transaction monitoring, and a secure and seamless checkout process. Our highly scalable payments platform ensures you can process payments even during peak sales periods.

Opn team is available to support you throughout the payment gateway migration process. Contact us now to receive expert assistance and ensure a smooth transition.

Source: Malaysia’s revenue in the e-commerce market is projected to reach 10.19 billion USD 4-step breakdown of the migration process Malaysia's eCommerce market contributed to the worldwide growth rate of 17.0% in 2023 50% of the Malaysian population using e-wallets daily