The payment gateway is one of the most important steps in e-commerce, especially for those seeking to offer greater security and efficiency at checkout. According to reports from the Brazilian Electronic Commerce Association (ABComm), in 2024 alone, Brazilian e-commerce registered more than 400 million orders.
Even so, many entrepreneurs still have questions about what a gateway is and how it works, why it is so important, and how to implement it on their website. With that in mind, we have prepared this content to clarify the main issues. Let’s get started!
What is a payment gateway and what is it for?
A payment gateway is the technology that connects your website to financial institutions, allowing transactions to be sent, validated, and authorized. It acts as a bridge between the buyer, the card brands, and the banks, ensuring that all information is transmitted in an encrypted and risk-free manner.
In addition, this technology also helps to significantly reduce the number of errors and abandonments during the payment stage and enables merchants to offer different payment methods in a single system.
How does the gateway work behind the scenes to approve a purchase?
When the customer completes the purchase and enters their card details, the gateway collects this information and automatically encrypts it. It then sends everything to the processor, which performs security checks and validates the transaction directly with the card brand and the issuing bank.
After this analysis, the bank returns information on whether the purchase has been approved or denied, and the gateway passes the response on to the website where the order was placed. This entire process occurs in real time, ensuring a stable, fast, and secure checkout, as well as preventing the website from storing sensitive data.
Gateway, intermediary, or PSP: which option makes sense for you right now
The main difference between the three solutions is the level of autonomy each one offers and how much you will need to be involved in the technical side. Check out the main features of each one below:
- Payment gateway:
- Provides the infrastructure for you to connect your website to acquirers.
- Requires configuration and direct negotiation with each partner.
- Ideal for those who want control, customization, and lower long-term costs.
- Payment intermediary:
- Delivers everything ready to go: account, rules, fees, and processing.
- Does not require complex integration, but charges higher fees.
- Great for startups or businesses that need to sell quickly.
- PSP (Payment Service Provider):
- Combines gateway functions with extra services (anti-fraud, reconciliation, unified reports).
- It ensures flexibility without the same operational complexity.
- It works well for growing companies that want to scale with more stability.
In other words, the gateway is ideal for those seeking autonomy. However, the choice will depend on your company’s sales volume, the technical capacity of your team, and the need for customization at checkout.
What to evaluate in a payment gateway before hiring it?
Before making a decision and hiring a gateway, it is essential that, in addition to the price, you or your team understand how it fits into your business operation. First, evaluate crucial points such as platform stability, documentation quality, ease of integration, security measures adopted, and technical support quality.
In addition, it is also necessary to analyze which payment methods each solution supports, how the anti-fraud system works, which acquirers are compatible, and whether there are limitations in volume or customizations.
The more the chosen payment gateway is aligned with your current situation, the more efficient it will be and the greater your results will be.
How to integrate a gateway into your website without complications
Integrating a payment gateway into your business is simple, see:
- First, access the dashboard, complete the registration, and confirm which payment methods you want to offer;
- Then, find your API keys, tokens, or access credentials in the provider’s dashboard;
- Depending on your platform, you can use a ready-made plugin (such as WooCommerce) or API integration on custom websites;
- Connect the gateway to your website, then enter your credentials, configure checkout, and set rules such as automatic or manual capture.
- Before making it available, test it in the sandbox environment, such as simulating purchases, validating authorization returns, error messages, and payment method functionality.
- Finally, after testing everything, activate the gateway in the production environment and closely monitor the first sales to ensure that everything is working correctly.
Common errors when configuring a gateway#
Even though it is a simple process, some details can compromise the functioning of the gateway and cause checkout failures. Here are the most frequent errors and how to avoid them:
- Using the wrong credentials: Verify that the keys entered correspond to the correct environment to avoid invalid returns and refusals;
- Not configuring payment methods: After integration, remember to confirm in the control panel which brands and methods are enabled;
- Ignoring tests: As we highlighted earlier, before implementing the solution, simulate complete purchases, including error scenarios, to prevent them from occurring in the future;
- Forgetting to enable webhooks or status notifications: Forgetting this step can cause the order to remain “pending” even after it has been approved;
- Leaving anti-fraud poorly configured: Setting too strict criteria for the anti-fraud system can interfere with payments from real customers, hurting your sales.
- Not reviewing fees and conditions with acquirers: Negotiate the fees directly with your chosen payment gateway to avoid surprises in the final cost of each transaction.
Have you learned how to configure and implement a payment gateway in your business?
Ready to put what you’ve learned about configuring and implementing a payment gateway into practice? With the right steps, your checkout can become much faster and more reliable, significantly reducing abandonment rates.