Choose It Right: Hosted Payment Page vs. API

Online business and payments are considered to be norms of the day. However, you need in-depth knowledge to select appropriate online payment platforms for your business. A major initial consideration would be on how to choose the type of payment gateway, hosted payment page, or API. Read on to understand more about both of these options.

 

Hosted Payment Page: What Is It? 

In a hosted payment page, the eCommerce payment gateway will provide a unique link to a webpage hosted elsewhere to accept payments from the customer. The merchant or business can link to this page from their website. The hosted page is located in the servers of your payment solution provider securely. The only requirement would be compliance of your website to the hosted page.

 

Process of Hosted Payment Page

As your customer in your eCommerce websites decides to make the final transactions, the payment gateways will pull the customer off your site’s checkout page. He/ she will be directed to the payment service provider (PSP) page to fill the payment details and make the payment. Then he/ she will be redirected to your website to finish the checkout process. An alternative option is to use an inline frame or iframe. The payment service provider creates a form, iframe, that you can insert into your website. With this, merchants can securely accept transactions without storing the card data. The PSP receives and stores the data.

 

Advantages of the Hosted Payment Page

The main advantage of a hosted solution is the simplicity of the process itself. The capturing and processing of payment is through the eCommerce payment gateway, which ensures the security of cardholders. Setting up of the process is quick and convenient; it is a matter of linking your website to the hosted page and start receiving payments. Access to payment history and the process of refunds can be done easily without card data.

 

API Integration

API stands for application program interface provided by online payment platforms. Mainly, API involves the integration of one program to another and facilitates communication between them using the same language. Here, a website captures the payment data, such as card details, and send the payment to a gateway through API for processing. The user never leaves your website, while the transaction is processed behind the screens.

 

Advantages of API

The fact that your customer doesn’t have to leave the website to complete the transaction allows you to control the customer end-to-end in the checkout process. The customer will have a seamless experience throughout the purchase. Your business is responsible for the page and therefore the visual appeal can be improved based on your target customers and brand specifications. However, API integration requires a developer and web designer from your end.

Look at the flexibility of options your payment solution provider can offer. It should support alternative methods of payment and mobile applications. The option selected should be appropriate to your needs in the business.