Your payment gateway affects conversion rate, cash flow and customer trust. Here is what to compare before you choose a gateway for your website or app in India.
A customer has chosen your product, entered their address and reached checkout. Then the payment fails. Your payment gateway quietly influences how many orders you actually receive, when the money reaches your bank and how smooth refunds are. Here's how to choose one in India.
The main players
India has several mature, RBI-regulated payment gateways. Well-known options include Razorpay, PayU, Cashfree Payments, PhonePe Payment Gateway, Paytm Payment Gateway and CCAvenue. International businesses also look at Stripe and PayPal for cross-border payments. All of them support the core methods: UPI, credit and debit cards, net banking and wallets.
What to compare
1. Pricing
Most gateways charge a percentage per successful transaction, with different rates for domestic cards, UPI, international cards, corporate cards and EMI. Check for setup fees, annual maintenance charges and GST on fees. Pricing changes often and can be negotiated at higher volumes, so always check the gateway's current pricing page.
2. Success rates
A gateway with smarter routing and better bank tie-ups can successfully process more of your transactions. Even a small improvement in success rate can be worth more than a small difference in fees.
3. Settlement time
How quickly does money reach your bank account? Standard settlement typically takes a couple of working days, and many gateways offer faster or instant settlement for an extra fee. That matters if cash flow is tight.
4. Payment methods and features
- UPI intent and QR flows for smooth mobile payments.
- Card and UPI EMI options for high-ticket products.
- Subscriptions and recurring payments (UPI AutoPay, e-mandates) for SaaS, memberships and coaching.
- Payment links and QR codes for WhatsApp and offline sales.
- International cards if you sell abroad.
5. Integration and platform support
Check for ready plugins for your platform (Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento), good SDKs for Android, iOS, Flutter and React Native, and clear API documentation for custom builds such as Laravel applications.
6. Onboarding and KYC
You'll need business documents, a bank account, a live website with policy pages and product details. Some businesses (gaming, crypto, certain financial services) face extra scrutiny or restrictions.
7. Support and dashboard
When payments fail on a sale day, responsive support matters. Look for a clear dashboard with refunds, dispute management, reports and webhooks.
Quick recommendations
- New D2C store: pick a gateway with fast onboarding, a strong UPI experience and easy plugins for your platform.
- Subscriptions or SaaS: prioritise recurring payments and mandate support.
- High-ticket products: look for EMI options and high success rates on cards.
- International customers: check international card support and currency conversion costs.
Tip: Many growing businesses integrate two gateways, a primary plus a backup, so a gateway outage never stops sales completely.
We integrate all major Indian gateways into websites and apps. Part of our e-commerce packages is helping you pick and set up the right one. Starting from zero? Read how to start an online store in India.
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