Everything You Need to Know About Payment Solutions

What is a payment solution, and why is it important for your webshop? Read on to learn how it works.

A payment solution allows you to accept online payments through your webshop. As a webshop owner, you need two things to be able to receive online payments:

1. A payment gateway
2. An acquiring agreement 

How is an Online Payment Processed on a Webshop?

This illustration shows what happens when a payment is processed on a webshop and the steps involved in transferring the payment to the webshop owner.

1. The customer completes a payment on a webshop
2. The payment gateway sends encrypted card data to the acquirer bank 
3. The acquirer bank clears the payment—meaning it verifies that the card data is valid and that there are sufficient funds on the card 
4. The payment amount is reserved
5. The payment amount is charged 
6. The payment is sent to the acquirer bank 
7. The payment is transferred to the webshop owner

With our product, we handle the entire process, so you don’t have to worry about a thing. 

What is a Payment Gateway?

It’s software that enables your customers to make payments on your webshop. A good payment gateway can handle multiple payment methods and acquirers. 

With the right payment gateway, you make it easy and quick for your customers to pay for their orders. At the same time, it ensures secure transactions, so your customers can shop confidently on your webshop.

There are two things you should check:

1. If you have a custom-built webshop, make sure the API documentation is solid.
2. You should always check if the payment gateway is supported by the webshop platform you’re using.

pensopay supports over 50 webshop systems, and you can see the full list here. 

Who is the Acquirer?

When the customer enters their card details into the gateway in the payment window, all the data is encrypted and sent to the acquirer.

The acquirer is a card acquirer or an acquirer bank that issues an acquiring agreement to the webshop. An acquirer is a financial institution authorized and responsible for transferring funds between customers' accounts and a webshop. Acquirers in Denmark are regulated by the Financial Supervisory Authority (Finanstilsynet).

To accept payments on your webshop, you must enter into an agreement with an acquirer. This can, for example, be done through a provider like pensopay.

With pensopay, you get a complete, ready-to-use payment solution, including both the gateway and the acquirer.

This makes the process both easy and straightforward for you as a customer.

How to Choose the Right Payment Solution

When it comes to a payment solution, there are a few key things you should consider. It’s important to have a provider you can trust, one that can assist you when issues arise. Do yourself a favor and check out potential providers on Trustpilot or social media, so you know who you're dealing with. 

Additionally, it’s about offering your customers as many payment options as possible, or at least the right ones. You can read more about how to find the best payment solution here.

Team pensopay