5 Steps to Select The Right Bitcoin Payment Gateway

Businesses are becoming increasingly customer-orientated, focusing on offering tools that resonate with the user and improve their experience. 

Transacting with cryptocurrencies is one of the recent trends that are becoming widely popular among websites and platforms serving different purposes.

Not only do they allow you to offer an expansive range of payment methods to your clients, but they are also processed faster, and you can save more money than with credit card payments.

However, this technologically advanced system might be intimidating for someone who is used to traditional payment methods, but we make it simple for you by introducing crypto payment gateways and a five-step checklist to finding a gateway provider.

Why Do You Need Payment Gateways?

Payment gateways facilitate the communication and interaction between parties involved in the transaction. For example, when sending cryptocurrencies, the gateway interacts with the sender’s wallet to verify the funds, then initiates the transaction with the blockchain, deploying smart contracts, validating the transfer, and realising funds in the destination wallet.

The gateway also serves as the interface of your website’s checkout page, where the client chooses the payment method and sends the money. There are multiple API integrations that you can add to the gateway to increase its usability and improve the customer journey.

Locating The Right Crypto Payment Gateway

There are many payment gateway providers offering a wide range of services and supporting multiple virtual coins and tokens. The provider may offer additional services, such as API and plugin integrations, settlement systems, currency conversion and more, at various fees.

Let’s introduce the five-step checklist that you can use to find a suitable crypto payment system provider. 

Execution Speed

Customers prefer cryptocurrencies over traditional payments mainly for the quick processing times, where a customer can pay and receive the promised service almost instantly. This happens because blockchain transactions are automatic, work every day of the week, are 24 hours, and have minimum human interference. 

In contrast, banks have fixed working days and hours. Additionally, cross-border payments are processed through financial institutions and intermediaries, which can cause delays and increased fees.

Moreover, to find out the processing speed, check the blockchains supported by the gateway provider. Main blockchains face congestion and delays, while layer-2 networks are usually faster.

Pricing Plans

Gateway providers charge different fees for their services. These costs can be fixed or pro rata, which depends on the volume. You may also encounter different fee structures, such as setup fees, maintenance, account management and more. 

Therefore, it is important to learn about the fee structure and ensure there are no hidden fees. Check out the exchange fees the provider may levy when converting between crypto and fiat currencies.

Security Protocols

Crypto payments have been targeted by hackers and blockchain network anomalies that take advantage of the transparent nature of decentralised economies to steal user identity or funds.

Therefore, ensure your gateway provider uses robust blockchain networks, such as Bitcoin, Polygon or Avalanche. The Ethereum network has introduced several innovations that promote security and trust, such as zero-knowledge proofs and sharding. So, this is something you need to check for when choosing your gateway provider.

Scalability and Integration Capabilities

As you grow your business, your transaction volume might increase, which can affect the gateway processing speed. Therefore, ensure that the payment system is capable of handling increasing frequency without having to opt in for additional services or pay more fees.

Additionally, ensure the gateway is capable of integrating API plugins that can improve your user journey. These include adding live exchange rate feeds or an on-ramp converter. 

Payment Settlements

After the funds are released to your wallet or account, the payment gateway can help you decide to store the money in the same cryptocurrency or exchange it for fiat money, such as USD or EUR.

Therefore, check if this option is available, which can make it easier for you to track payments, generate reports and realise payments more efficiently.

Conclusion

Accepting BTC, ETH and XRP as a business is becoming more common, and users are starting to get accustomed to paying with crypto money to utilise lower transaction fees and faster processing times.

However, to do so, you need to find and integrate a reliable gateway using the 5-step checklist mentioned above to facilitate crypto transactions and store money in your wallet using a particular currency.