Payment Gateway is a service that allows merchants to accept payments via online. Here, we will talk about five of the more popular payments gateways used in Singapore.
- Paypal
Paypal is one of the more popular payment gateway used in Singapore because it is easy and fast to send, receive and even request for money online. Other than the convenience of using, it also has a good reputation on safety and security. The system also allows overseas transactions to any individual including online shops too.
Ecommerce websites that use Paypal will have a Paypal logo for users to make payment. Consumers will be able to make payment by just knowing the email address. Once the transaction is made, there will be a notification via email. Amount received will be credited into the Paypal account.
Paypal users do not need a bank account to use the service because users only require a Paypal personal account. A bank account is only required when users want to transfer the amount from the Paypal account to the personal bank account.
Setting up a Paypal account is free. Personal transactions between friends and families are completely free. The only chargeable fee is when an individual uses his or her credit card for payment. In this case, the recipient will be charged the responding fee.
Sellers that receive payments for goods and services will be charged a selling fee. The fee for using Paypal and selling Singapore is a rate of 3.9% plus a fixed fee. As for withdrawals, a fee of 1 SGD is charged if the amount goes below 200 SGD with a return fee of 5 SGD.
- eNETS
NETS stands for Network for Electronic Transfers. It was founded in 1985 by several banking companies such as OCBC bank, DBS bank and United Overseas Bank to enable and drive adoption of electronic payments in Singapore.
Many businesses are quick to adopt eNETS because it provides direct debit in Singapore and has a wide range of acceptance on currencies and major credit cards. eNETS also has easy integration inclusive of bilingual customer support in Singapore which is another plus for online businesses.
eNETS is a real-time payment where users can pay using their Internet Banking ID and PIN. Individuals can use this service as long as he or she is a digibank user. eNETS is also well secured with verification by VISA, SecureCode by MasterCard and American Express SafeKey.
- DBS Paylah!
Paylah is an online payment service where users only require the use of an application to make transactions. It is basically a mobile wallet inside your smartphone. Users can make use of the application to do fund transfer and paying of bills via the mobile number.
Users may wish to link their Paylah to their bank account for internal transfer or they may also top up their Paylah account with digibank, credit and debit card. Paylah is free to use and there are no charges for setting up an account.
- SmoovPay
SmoovPay is a private company based in Singapore that was founded in 2008. It provides online payment service and does not require a setup fee when you sign up with them. SmoovPay is a popular choice in Singapore because it offers a very competitive rate. The rate starts from 2.9% on the total sale amount as well as a fixed fee of 25 cents per transaction. Besides providing a competitive rate, SmoovPay does not charge any fee for monthly withdrawal.
Transactions under SmoovPay are well secured as they use 3-D authentication and with PCI compliant standards. 3-D authentication means a verification from an authentication code to ensure no unauthorized third party has access to the transaction. Also to ensure user friendliness, SmoovPay is fast to set up and easy to integrate.
- Stripe
Stripe is an American company that offers primary service on payment processing software. Stripe has numerous advantageous points that make it one of the most preferable payment gateway. It is a more preferable payment gateway because it is flexible in the type of billing model acceptance. For instance, it has support from coupons to free trials and add-ons.
Accepting over a hundred currencies and major debit and credit cards, Stripe is also easy to integrate and businesses can start collecting payments either one-time or recurring ones at an instant.
Conclusion
With so many payment gateways to choose from, businesses can opt for the one that best matches their business model and budget. Businesses can opt for the ones that support multiple currencies and major debit and credit cards because these can affect their revenue in and out of Singapore.
However, businesses with Singapore based customers can opt for the ones with factors like the fees charged per transaction and consider merchant account options.
