Payment gateway setup - start collecting payments online

A payment gateway is a technology that enables businesses to accept online payments from customers. It acts as an intermediary between your website/app and the payment processing network (banks, card networks, UPI). When a customer enters payment details on your website, the payment gateway securely captures the information, validates it, processes the transaction through the relevant bank/network, and returns a success or failure response. Payment gateways support multiple payment methods: credit/debit cards (Visa, Mastercard, RuPay), UPI, net banking, and digital wallets.

The best payment gateway depends on your business type and requirements. Razorpay: Best for D2C brands, SaaS companies, and e-commerce. Low fees, excellent UX, and strong developer tools. PayU: Best for high-volume merchants, travel, and education. Strong in EMI and PayLater options. Paytm: Best for wallet-heavy businesses and offline-to-online transitions. Excellent UPI and wallet integration. Stripe: Best for international businesses, SaaS with global customers, and businesses needing recurring billing. Limited direct India presence - use via Stripe Atlas or partner. Compare effective costs (TDR/MDR), settlement cycles, and features before choosing.

Payment gateway costs have two components: (1) Setup fee: Most gateways have no setup fee. At Bizeneed, our integration setup fee starts from ₹2,999. (2) Transaction fees (TDR/MDR): Paid per successful transaction. Typical rates: UPI: 0%-0.3%, Debit cards: 0.4%-1%, Credit cards: 1.4%-3%, Net banking: ₹2-₹10 flat, International cards: 2%-3%. For example, on a ₹10,000 UPI transaction at 0.3% TDR, the fee is ₹30. On a ₹10,000 credit card at 2% TDR, the fee is ₹200.

TDR (Transaction Discount Rate) or MDR (Merchant Discount Rate) is the fee charged by the payment gateway for each successful transaction. It is expressed as a percentage of the transaction amount. RBI has mandated zero MDR for UPI and RuPay transactions (since 2020). For other payment methods: Debit cards: up to 0.4% for transactions below ₹2,000, 0.9% for above ₹2,000. Credit cards: 1.4%-2.4% (varies by gateway). International cards: 2%-3%. The TDR is deducted from the transaction amount before settlement to your bank account.

A payment aggregator is a service provider that enables businesses (merchants) to accept online payments through multiple payment methods. Payment aggregators hold a licence from RBI under the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007. They onboard merchants, provide the payment gateway infrastructure, and settle funds to merchants' bank accounts. Examples: Razorpay, PayU, Paytm, Cashfree. Payment aggregators are different from payment gateways in that they are licensed entities, while 'payment gateway' is a broader term that can include both aggregators and non-bank gateway providers.

Payment gateway setup typically takes 2-5 days for merchant onboarding and KYC, plus 2-5 days for integration and testing. Total: 5-10 days if all documents are ready. The fastest setup (with pre-approved KYC and simple button integration) can be completed in 3-5 days. Delays typically occur during KYC approval (bank verification, business category review) or if the gateway requests additional documentation. We pre-screen applications to minimise delays.

Core documents for payment gateway KYC: (1) Business PAN card, (2) GST registration certificate, (3) Business bank account details (current account), (4) Business address proof (electricity bill or rent agreement + NOC), (5) Website/app URL (live or staging), (6) Promoter/partner PAN and ID proof (Aadhaar, passport, driving licence), (7) Certificate of Incorporation (for companies/LLPs), (8) Partnership deed or trust deed (for partnerships/trusts). Some gateways may request additional documents depending on the business category and transaction volume.

PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) is a set of security standards designed to ensure that all companies that accept, process, store, or transmit credit card information maintain a secure environment. PCI DSS compliance is mandatory for any business that handles card payments. However, if you use a payment gateway with hosted checkout pages (like Razorpay Checkout), the PCI DSS compliance burden falls primarily on the gateway - not on your website. If you collect card details on your own server (direct API integration), you must ensure PCI DSS compliance for your servers. Our integration uses hosted checkout pages wherever possible to minimise your PCI DSS burden.

Yes, you can use multiple payment gateways simultaneously. This is called multi-gateway routing or payment gateway aggregation. Benefits: (1) Redundancy - if one gateway goes down, payments continue through the other, (2) Cost optimisation - route high-value card transactions to the gateway with the lowest TDR, (3) Coverage - some gateways support specific payment methods better than others. Multi-gateway setup requires additional integration work. Our Premium plan covers multi-gateway routing setup.

UPI (Unified Payments Interface) is a real-time payment system developed by NPCI that enables instant money transfer between bank accounts through a mobile platform. UPI has become the dominant payment method in India - over 10 billion transactions per month. All major payment gateways (Razorpay, PayU, Paytm) support UPI integration. UPI payment methods include: (1) UPI ID/link payment (pay@upi), (2) QR code payment (scan and pay), (3) UPI AutoPay (recurring payments), (4) Intent-based UPI (one-tap payment in mobile apps). RBI has mandated zero MDR for UPI and RuPay transactions, making UPI the most cost-effective payment method for merchants.

A payment link is a URL that you can share with customers to collect payments without needing a full website integration. When a customer clicks the link, they are taken to a hosted payment page where they can pay using UPI, cards, net banking, or wallets. Payment links are useful for: (1) Businesses without a website, (2) Social media sellers (Instagram, WhatsApp, Facebook), (3) Invoice payments, (4) One-time collections. Most gateways offer free payment link creation with the same TDR as regular gateway transactions.

A payment gateway is the technology/interface that processes online payments. A payment aggregator is the licensed entity (RBI-authorised) that provides the payment gateway service. All RBI-authorised payment aggregators (Razorpay, PayU, Paytm, Cashfree) also operate as payment gateways. The terms are often used interchangeably in India. A non-bank payment gateway provider (like PayPal) that does not hold an Indian payment aggregator licence must partner with an Indian payment aggregator to operate in India.

To receive payments from international customers, you need a payment gateway that supports international card processing and multi-currency settlements. Options: (1) Stripe: Best for international payments - supports 135+ currencies, auto-converts to INR, settles in Indian bank accounts. (2) Razorpay International: Supports international cards (Visa, Mastercard, Amex) with settlement in INR. (3) PayU: Supports international cards with cross-border settlement. For international payments, you may also need: (1) FCRA registration if receiving from foreign entities, (2) An Importer Exporter Code (IEC) if the payments are for export-related transactions.

Required documents for payment gateway registration vary by provider but typically include: (1) Business registration proof - Pvt. Ltd incorporation certificate / LLP agreement / proprietorship registration, (2) PAN card of the business/entity, (3) GST registration certificate, (4) Bank account details with cancelled cheque / bank statement, (5) Address proof for the registered business address, (6) Identity and address proof of directors/partners/proprietor (Aadhaar, PAN, passport), (7) Website/App URL (for digital merchants), (8) Business description and expected transaction volumes. For high-risk businesses, additional KYC and business model documentation may be required.

PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) is a set of security standards designed to ensure that all companies that accept, process, store, or transmit credit card information maintain a secure environment. Compliance is mandatory for any business handling card payments. PCI DSS has 12 requirements organised into 6 groups: build and maintain a secure network, protect cardholder data, maintain a vulnerability management program, implement strong access control measures, regularly monitor and test networks, and maintain an information security policy. Payment gateway providers handle most PCI compliance for you, but you still need to ensure secure data handling on your end.