There are many aspects of development; one such aspect is rapidness. We come from a time when transactions happen only through the barter system. Then, currency evolved, and trade and commerce would take place on a local or neighborhood level. After which routes were devised geographically on land and sea and much later through airways, trade grew out of the restricted neighborhood. Then came the internet, the next revolution after the Big Bang itself. To this day, trade and the world are bound to nothing. This narrative fits best in the realm of E-commerce. Today the typical brick-mortar shop is going virtual, seeking to become atypical and entering a marketplace where customers worldwide can shop products and services and pay for the same in multiple ways.

Are you still wondering why now you must go online? Look around, and you will know why. The pandemic has made us realize why one must build a robust digital presence more than ever. The SARS-CoV-2 brought the entire mode of operation for establishments to a halt because of their derivative and sole dependence on physical transactions and administrations; some business owners assessed the environment and quickly switched to becoming an E-commerce entity; some are on the verge of the transformation, while some who could not adapt to it, have perished or are on the verge of extinction. 

This brings us to the narrative of digitalization and how payment has become an intrinsic part of this scape. There is an upsurge in E-Commerce, and businesses are no longer limited to geological barriers thanks to the internet; therefore, it has become critically important to secure payment gateways. Establishments need to operate through secured gateways for daily payments for their transactions. Furthermore, it has become essential for their survival in the market since the mode of payment and ease of payment plays a huge part in user experience and satisfaction. Who would want to shop from a site that gives them a hard time paying, since if you can’t pay, you can’t buy anything? As per E-Commerce experts, their client foremostly demands to build an application or platform that supports various payment gateways. 

While Shopify in UAE contends to be the most popular platform for business owners to run their E-commerce store, this article will dive right into setting up payment gateways in a Shopify store due to its unique and unmatched features. But before that, let us ponder on some basic questions. 

What is a Payment Gateway?

In simple terms, as per the E-Commerce industry, a payment gateway is a service that accredits credit cards and other direct payments, engaging in E-Commerce websites in the whole world for online retailing. However, online payment gateways have more security checkpoints than credit card transactions. Therefore, in this form, transactions are completed with the help of modes other than cash. 

Role of a Payment Gateway

To understand the correct gateway, we must first understand the role of an efficient pathway for payment. 

• To either authorize or deny transactions between a merchant and a consumer. 
• Offers E-Commerce platforms the ease of payment to their local and worldwide customers. 
• It boosts credibility and rapport to an E-Commerce platform when they offer the freedom to a customer to pay with convenience. 
• Adds value to user experience and is as fundamental to quality service and user experience as the product. 
• In the absence of a secured or trustworthy payment gateway, the credibility and productivity of the E-Commerce brand deteriorates since customers can add items to their cart but avoid buying it and exit because of the inconvenience, insecurity, and uneasiness in payment. 

Types of Payment Gateways in the market:-

The significant types of payment gateways operational in the market are as follows-

(1) On-site payment 

The processing of the transaction occurs right on the merchant’s system, and it completes when the customer checks out from the website. 

(2) Checkout on site, payment off-site 

One checks out on the merchant’s site, but the payment is processed on an off-site gateway. 

(3) Redirects 

The customer gets “redirected” to the payment platform straightaway in this gateway type.

How is a Payment Gateway different from a Payment Processor or Payment Aggregator?

Suppose you wish to integrate a payment gateway with your site. The idea of payment gateways is alien to you. In that case, it might be confusing for you to distinguish between payment processors and payment aggregators. However, all of them inherently serve the same purpose, their approach differs in different purposes, and you know the difference to leverage those features for your establishment. 

(i) Payment Gateway

In this payment gateway, the consumer’s credit or debit card information is sent to the payment platform. This is the first stage a consumer has to go through when they agree to pay for purchasing a particular product. 

(ii) Payment Processor 

This is the next stage in the transaction where  The information of all the stakeholders in a divested transaction is processed here securely.

(iii) Payment Aggregator 

Some brands are a combination of gateway and processor. For example, PayPal has its payment gateway, Payflow. However, it does need merchants to set up a separate merchant; account for processing payments. 

Working of a Payment Gateway:-

Bearing in mind that payment gateway services are provided by both banks directly or by authorizing a service provider, a procedure is followed every time in settlement of payment, when a customer places an order for a service or product to a merchant who has enabled payment gateway. This procedure begins with the customer entering his card details and finally making it to the merchant’s account, settling the transaction: 

The steps involved in this process are: 

Step 1: Once the consumer commences an order online and moves forward for payment, he must enter his credit/debit card details.

Step 2: The card details are encrypted for security by Secured Socket Layer encryption, shared by the browser to the merchant’s web server. 

Step 3: After this, the merchant shares the transaction details of the customer to the payment gateway adopted, SSL encrypted connection to the payment server backed by the payment pathway. 

Step 4: The payment pathway transforms the message received from the merchant, which is XML, to ISO 8583 or other format understood by EFT Switches. The transaction information is shared with the payment processor of the merchant’s acquiring bank. 

Step 5: The payment pathway then forwards the transaction information to Visa, Master, American Express, and other card associations.

Step 6: The credit card issuing bank gets the request for authorization, verifies the credit or debit available, and sends a response back to the processor, the same way it received the authorization request, with a response code that shows whether the request has been accepted or denied. 

Step 7: The processor then forwards the authorization response to the payment pathway, which receives it and sends it to the interface used to process the payment. This procedure is called Authorisation, and it takes merely 2-3 seconds in general. 

Step 8: Now, the merchant fulfills the order. The process prior is repeated to ‘clear’ the Authorisation by fulfilling the transaction, and the merchant ships the order/ performs the service.

Step 9: The merchant submits all his approved authorizations in a “batch” at the end of the day to his acquiring bank for settling through its processor. 

Step 10: The acquiring bank settles the “batch” request of the credit card issuer. 

Step 11: The credit card issuer then makes the settlement to the acquiring bank the next business day. 

Step 12: The acquiring bank immediately deposits the approved funds’ total into the merchant’s nominated account either the very same business day or late by the next business day maximum.

How to choose the best payment gateway?

When you have your online store on Shopify, your ultimate desire is to have a diverse customer base so that you can capture the market and bear boons significantly. However, a diverse customer base has diverse demands, which involves having the best payment gateway you must choose as a tradesperson, keeping the following aspects in mind. 

(a) Security

Transaction security is the top priority of every business that enables online payment. It is imperative for the customers to trust the transaction pathway with their details. Therefore, such a mode must comply with PCI – DSS standards (Payment Card Industry – Data Security Standard). 

(b) Customer Experience 

The user experience of the payment gateway is also necessary since if it is not easy, quick, seamless, swift in processing and customizing payment, the users will not rely on it. After all, it is a part of customers’ shopping experience only; hence it must be customer friendly rather than complicated. 

(c) Choice of Payment 

Every payment gateway must allow customers to choose their mode of payment at their convenience among debit/credit card, net banking, mobile wallets or e-wallets, UPI, or other prevalent payment modes in a particular country. 

(d) Merchant Onboarding 

The gateway providing smooth and seamless merchant onboarding is crucial. In addition, the option processing and setup fees and rates should be inexpensive for every merchant. 

(e) Acceptance of Worldwide currency 

Ever since the world has become a global village, interconnectivity runs deep, thanks to the internet, digitalization, and globalization profoundly; therefore, the gateway you choose must support multi-currency transactions. 

Things to keep in mind for security:-

• Your business must be PCI (Payment Card Industry) compliant. The PCI-DSS are codified measures for safeguarding the security of the data involved in communicating a credit card in the whole transaction. 
• Always prefer going for a payment gateway partner who constantly updates their E-Commerce security measures. This protects the gateway against malware as it does not remain stoic. It tells how seriously the company takes security. 

How do payment gateways keep data safe?

Since the security of customers’ and merchants’ information is the most vital aspect to be considered when choosing a payment gateway, let us see how payment gateways secure the data of both parties. 

• Standard Security Layer or SSL is a standard protocol for securing online transactions. It protects sensitive information and validates a customer’s identity. 

Note – You can determine whether a payment pathway operates on SSL by checking the “https” at the beginning of the web address. 

• Three Domain Secure protocol is a messaging protocol developed by EMVCo. It adds surface security to authenticate customers and merchants. 
• The data is encrypted to make it incomprehensible for anyone except you so that it cannot be manipulated by anyone else. 
• Tokenization has lately become another popular way of securing sensitive information. All of it is replaced in a string of encrypted characters. 

Charges for payment gateways:-

The charges for a particular payment gateway depend on the following aspects: 

• Business model.
• Services & features merchants needs from the payment gateway. 
• The fee of the software.
• Setup fee.
• Maintenance fee. 
• Transaction discount rate for payment mode. 

Major Payment Gateways:

Now, look at some of the most reliable payment gateways for you to integrate with your online store on Shopify in UAE.

Amazon Payment Services (Payfort)

Amazon Payment Services is a principal payment pathway in all countries, made by one of the world’s top multinational companies. It accepts 100+ currencies and is credited for ease, access, and affordability. 

Telr

This award-winning payment aggregator provides services to establishments in various fields. Since the stack is built in-house, it customizes services easily as per the client base and has an intricately tiered pricing plan compared to others. 

PayTabs

PayTabs offers carefully curated features that are very helpful and incentivizing, especially for a start-up or small-scale business. It has a recurrent fee of USD 49.99 uniformly across the globe. 

2Checkout

2Checkout is a revamped version of the Checkout.com pathway. It accepts across 17 currencies. In August 2020, 2Checkout was acquired by Verifone, becoming one of the fastest-growing payment gateways since it processes 10.3 billion transactions annually. 

Checkout.com

Checkout.com is recognized for seamless transactions with a wide range of customizable solutions that offer valuable insight and acclimate with specific markets. In addition, it offers exceptional user experience, verified integration methods for payment, and easy setup.

FasterPay

Developed in 2012 in the UK as an e-wallet service, it spread to other major global markets by 2019. The company caters to industries like Shopify websites, travel and hospitality, iGaming, E-Commerce, and Video Games. 

Skrill 

The platform is known for its sheer ease in operation and highly user-friendly interface. Moreover, you can trust the credibility of Skrill since it is now the official Global payments partner of football legend AC Milan.

Stripe

Stripe is a well-known payment gateway used by business owners to accept payments. It supports several payment methods, from credit cards to buy now and pay later services. Furthermore, it charges a certain fee on each transaction. Though it is best known for accepting online payments, it can also be used for in-person payments with some added hardware. 

CCAvenue

Based in India, CCAvenue is one of the most reliable payment gateways in UAE for its flexible pricing structure that fits well for all kinds of businesses, be it small, medium, or large. Though the price is comparatively high, businesses prefer CCAvenue for its features like 24/7 on-call support and fraud prevention free of cost. 

Pricing Structure of the Major Payment Gateways in UAE

Payment Gateway	Transaction Rate	Monthly Charges
Amazon Payment Services (Payfort )	2.8% + AED 1	AED 280
Telr	Entry Level: N/A   Small Level: 2.69% + AED 1   Medium Level: 2.49% + AED 0.5	AED 349  AED 149   AED 99
PayTabs	Start up Plan: AED 183.62   Growth Plan: 2.7% + AED 0.99   Enterprise Plan: Negotiable	Waived off
2Checkout	4.7%% + AED 1.73	AED 180
Checkout.com	2.9% AED 1.10	Waived off
FasterPay	3.9% + AED	Waived off
Skrill	2.50%	Waived off
Stripe	2.9% + AED 1	Waived off
CCAvenue	3%	AED 200

What are Shopify and Shopify Payments? 

• Shopify 

If you wonder what Shopify is and why it is so prevalent in the UAE, we will answer you in a nutshell. It is famous for being effortlessly simple to operate on. It provides everything from promoting the online store to selling and shipping the products to the consumers, in furtherance of opting for a particular pricing plan and having created your online store. 

This cloud-based software functions on a monthly subscription model, giving business owners access to an admin panel where one can feed store data, add products, and process orders, making it easy to use and putting up an easy learning curve so that your store is up and running quickly. 

• Shopify Payments 

Shopify Payments is the inbuilt payment gateway of Shopify. Therefore, the integration is seamless as it takes place right in the Shopify dashboard, so there is no need to log into another platform to view the funds. Moreover, Shopify removes extra transaction fees. Though it’s a sneaky persuasion, it is a good incentive for store owners on Shopify. Even though it is an altogether E-Commerce software and independent payment, since using the Shopify Payment isn’t exclusive, users can still pay from other payment gateways. However, Shopify Payments cannot be used for in-person payments outside the US, Canada, UK, and Ireland. The major disadvantage of Shopify Payments is that it is explicitly available in a few listed countries and regions only like Australia, Canada, Germany, Japan, Singapore, Spain, United Kingdom, and a few others, not inclusive of UAE. Thus, if you function from a country or region listed in Shopify Payments’ areas of operation and deal with commodities that are not at a high risk of detecting fraud, Shopify Payments is a good option for a payment gateway. On the contrary, Shopify Payments is powered by Stripe since it allows adding payment capabilities to an existing platform and marketplace. 

How to set up an online Shopify store in the UAE?

One of the most pressing questions in the mind of an amateur E-Commerce business owner is how to start an online store with Shopify in UAE, and we will deal with this question by laying down the following steps:

(1) Start by selecting the right package. 

When you sign-up, you will have to provide some basic credentials, like billing information, biodata, the name of the store, etc. Shopify gives a 14-day free trial run to its customers, which helps them make a more informed decision. After the mock trial, you must select the right package for your store. Following are the packages offered by Shopify: 

(i) Basic Shopify Plan 

The basic plan costs USD 29 per month and is inclusive of services like unlimited storage, listing for products, two admin accounts, a website, a blog, 24/7 complete support, SSL certificate, an abandoned cart recovery, up to 4 recovery stores, up to 4 retail stores, warehouses, pop-ups, gift card, order creation manually which is perfect for new business. 

(ii) Shopify Plan

This plan is ideal specifically for growing businesses and costs USD 79 per month. In furtherance to the services offered under the basic plan, it also offers 5 admin accounts, 5 inventory locations, and a comprehensive operations report. 

(iii) Advanced Shopify Plan

The advanced plan offers all the necessary features that scale a growing business at the cost of USD 299 per month. In addition, it offers 15 admin accounts, an advanced report builder, 8 inventory locations, and charges minimal transaction fees on using a third-party payment gateway.  

(iv) Shopify Plus Plan

Shopify Plus is the ideal preference of large-scale businesses since it can manage much more than the regular Shopify. For example, Shopify Plus is able to handle 10,000 transactions per minute. Sounds amazing, right? In furtherance of including all the features of Shopify, Shopify Plus levels ahead with providing unlimited staff accounts. It offers dedicated and more personalized help support. It has some cutting-edge, exclusive features like script editing and analytics, the latter being essential for large-scale businesses in particular.  

(v) Shopify Lite

Shopify has recently come up with a personalized plan specifically for merchants who are looking forward to selling in person or adding a buy button to the existing website. It offers features like reports for viewing, issuing gift cards, splitting bills, and many other features. However, one can not build an online store with Shopify Lite. It costs around USD 9 per month and one can also try it out for free for 14 days.  

(2) Creating the Shopify store 

Once you have signed in to your Shopify account with the respective email address and password, Shopify’s inbuilt software creates a custom URL for the dashboard based on the store name. Then, it automatically calculates the tax rate. In addition, you can integrate multiple plugins of your choice for marketing, CMS, accounting, enhancing user experience, and payment. 

Once you have decided which Shopify plan is best for you, you have to select a theme from Shopify’s vast gallery of themes available with the help of the demo offered, address navigation, and other attributes critical for customer experience. Only then do you finally come to the last part of your customer’s journey, the payment gateway. 

How to set up a particular payment gateway on Shopify? 

To set up any payment gateway of your choice, follow the following steps mentioned:

• Log in to your Shopify account.
• In the menu on the left-hand, go to the Settings and then Payment providers. 
• Then in the third-party payment providers section, click on Choose third-party provider.
• Now here on this page, you will be able to see all the available payment gateway providers, select the one you wish to integrate, put your account details for the selected provider, and click on Activate.    

That is it! Your online Shopify Store in UAE with the payment gateway of your choice is up and running. 

This is no surprise that with higher inclination in operations, many a time, there are breakdowns, and as usual, payment gateways are not alien to such glitches either. But there are easy ways to overcome payment issues in Shopify store in UAE, so you need not worry.  

Conclusion 

A business owner must always know all the areas of the payment gateways that they can leverage since adopting a quality payment gateway impacts the consumer’s experience in leaps and bounds, which further makes the security, efficiency, and fast processing non-negotiable on the brand’s end. However, for inducing any of the payment pathways mentioned above, do outsource or hire  Shopify experts  so that you make a more informed and sound decision for your Shopify store.