In 2020, Malaysia experienced significant growth in its e-commerce market size. The expansion is backed up by mushrooming tech-savvy buyers, surging internet penetration, and substantial government support, especially since the emergence of the epidemic. It's not stopping soon, too, because analysts expect the value of Malaysia's B2C e-commerce to double by 2025.

Despite the promising prospect for online businesses and customers, the current digital ecosystem sometimes still falls behind. Specifically, the online payment process can be outdated and unsafe, resulting in numerous incidences of fraud. In the end, a share of buyers reverts to traditional payment methods such as bank transfer and COD (Cash-on-delivery).

To fulfill that void in the payment process, which would become a hurdle to seamless sales transactions, online commerce businesses need to serve both safety and convenience in their payment system. You could achieve that simply by adopting a payment gateway.

What is a payment gateway?

It is a technology that plays the role of a middleman in electronic payment transactions. It bridges online shopping websites and various payment systems — bank transfer, debit/credit cards, etc., secures transactions, and helps prevent fraud.

Currently, there are numerous providers in the market. Each of them offers different payment methods, services, and benefits. And as a merchant, you may be wondering how to choose a payment gateway.

Picking the right payment gateway for your e-commerce business

To identify which payment gateway is the best fit for their business and safest for their customers, business owners should be aware of a handful of criteria.

Seamless payment journey

Almost 70% of shopping carts are abandoned on average. Nearly one in five of them is due to the overly complex checkout process. Thus, businesses should try to look for a white-label payment gateway, enabling buyers to pay right on-site without being redirected to a third-party website. Once customers can shop more smoothly, merchants can prevent lost sales on a considerable scale.

Success rate

Authorizing non-3DS payments, transactions that do not require an OTP, is a step in getting rid of the complicated payment process. However, it is crucial to make sure that the success rate isn't decreasing along. An efficient payment gateway should help orchestrate a higher, at least 80% success rate (for purchases made via non-3DS transactions).

PCI Data Security Standard (PCI DSS)

The standard is constituted and managed by global card networks: Visa, Mastercard, JCB, Discovery, and American Express. Only certified processors can legally access, store, and process debit and credit card information. Likewise, uncertified providers cannot enable protected transactions via cards, which could be a drawback in providing seamless payment experiences.

Hence, if you plan to facilitate card payments on your online store, don't forget to ask for a PCI DSS certificate from your service provider.

Ease of connection

Look for a developer-friendly payment gateway: quick and easy to connect but also accurate. As much as payment gateways can help reform your online store's purchasing journey, they may require a lot of time and energy. To minimize exhausted resources, the payment gateway you choose should, thus, offer a flexible and scalable framework, allowing your developers to integrate the APIs into your online store effortlessly.

Hidden cost

Transparency is key. A trustable payment gateway shouldn't be hiding any extra costs or fees under the carpet. Attractive pricing plans may come with unforeseen additional fees such as registration, setup, transaction or transfer fees. Some others could require a minimum commitment per month in order to keep the system running.

Service uptime

Time is money. A few seconds of system breakdown could lead to lost profits, lost loyal customers, and damage to your brand image. To prevent that, look for the highest service uptime possible to make sure the system is stable and durable enough to execute payments at all times, especially during peak seasons. The ideal uptime that your selected payment gateway should provide is at least 99.9%.

Local-based support

Be prepared for unforeseen issues. It is advisable to select a service provider that offers real-time support backed by a team of local-based specialists. This way, your team can immediately access help on urgent cases without going through a third-party call center.

These are some initial factors that you should consider when looking for the most suitable payment gateway provider. However, it is best to consult specialists to figure out the best solution for your e-commerce website.

Whether you are a prospective merchant or already in Malaysia's e-commerce market, now is probably the time to push forward and keep up with the digital world.

For further inquiries about payment gateways, get in touch with our support team at support@omise.co