How to Implement a Payment Gateway into Android and iOS Apps

People can buy pretty much anything sitting on a couch with their smartphone. What could be more convenient? Statista has prepared some staggering numbers to prove that.

The part of m-commerce in e-commerce retail is expected to reach 72.9% in 2021 compared to 58.9% in 2017. Such a massive growth took only four years.

In this post, we’re reviewing the business benefits of mobile applications with a payment gateway and details on how to pick the right one for your company.

How Does a Payment Gateway Work?

Simply put, payment gateways are mediators between online customers and financial institutions. Without them, online transactions would be pretty much impossible.

Online payment workflow:

1. Users open a cart to buy the items they chose.

2. To make a payment, they enter debit or credit card details on the payment page.

3. These details are sent to a gateway mediator.

4. A gateway passes the data to a bank (financial institution).

5. Then, this request should be validated by the institution (it takes seconds).

6. After approval, the sum is withdrawn from the buyer’s card and sent to the merchant’s account.

Benefits of a Payment Gateway for a Mobile Application

It’s probably clear by now that payment gateways are an essential part of modern mobile apps. But if you have any hesitations, check out these business advantages.

1. Secure payments. Gateways nowadays are the most effective way to protect sensitive data and create the safest payment environment for online shoppers. Also, payment gateways have in-built fraud detection tools for the maximum security level.

That said, the right mediator can improve your business reputation among potential customers and significantly improve your user base.

2. Business expansion. People from anywhere in the world will be able to buy your products — payment gateways remove any borders between your company and a target customer. That’s a splendid opportunity to grow your company ignoring the necessity to have a brick-and-mortar branch.

3. Fast transactions. Gateways are the only tools that enable instant payments. Without them, every purchase would take much longer and ruin user experience and engagement. The result of it is a drop in sales that will take some time to recover from.

4. 24/7 support. Payment gateways guarantee that your online store is open at any time of the day and available from anywhere in the world.

5. No need to manage declined transactions. As you’ve seen from the gateway workflow, the transaction is approved or declined in seconds, so there’s no need for managers to control this process. Instead, they can focus on more creative and mind consuming tasks to improve current relations with customers.

All these points become even more relevant because of the pandemic era. At some point, online shopping has become a new norm for everyone. Speed, security, and support should be its essential attributes.

How to Choose the Right Payment Gateway for Your App

The number of payment gateways continues to grow, and choosing a perfect one for your business could be challenging. For you not to get overwhelmed with market offerings, we’ve prepared a list of priorities to focus on.

1. Make sure the gateway supports your product.

Many providers support both digital and physical products, but not all of them. Plus, providers consider some product groups riskier and don’t work with them whatsoever. Before moving any further, you should be sure you’re on a “white list” of a particular payment gateway.

2. Pay attention to pricing.

After our market overview, you’ve noticed how prices for gateway services may differ. It’s crucial not to overlook hidden spending traps, so keep in mind these fee types:

• gateway setup,
• merchant account setup,
• monthly fee, and
• per-transaction fee.

Look through gateway documentation to ensure there are no fee surprises for you, and a pricing policy is crystal clear.

3. Check payment methods and card types.

You should list payment tools and services used by your target audience and ensure that a payment gateway supports them all.

Integrating digital wallet payments differs from payment card support because they have different tokenization processes. You should check if a payment gateway allows using mobile wallets.

Another essential point is multi-currency payments. If your goal is the international market, check this option and its cost for businesses — some gateways require additional fees for multi-currency support.

4. Study transaction limits.

As any other business owner, you want to use one payment gateway option for the whole business, but it depends on the gateway capabilities.

The thing is, gateways often have limitations for the minimum and maximum sums of transactions. For instance, Square’s maximum transaction is 50 000 USD. This sum is enough for most businesses but not necessarily in your case.

5. Look closely at merchant account options.

Lots of gateway providers contain merchant account options as well — it’s way more convenient for business owners. A merchant account is where payments from customers go before you get them, it’s a kind of money storage.

The two types of merchants accounts to consider:

• A dedicated account is for your business only and gives you more control over your money and operations. Companies with dedicated accounts usually obtain faster transactions, but you should also be ready to pay a higher price for this account type.
• An aggregated account is for several merchants (businesses). In most cases, entrepreneurs pick this option as it’s cheaper, easier to set up (takes less than 24 hours), and requires less Know Your Customer data.

And this is only the tip of the iceberg. In our original blog post, we’ve prepared a review of the most popular and successful payment gateways, instructions on iOS and Android app payment integration, and its cost calculation. Click here to read it all and pose your questions.