Key takeaways
- Start with your customers: a gateway is only as good as its coverage of the methods they use in your markets.
- Look beyond the headline rate at settlement currencies, timing, fraud tools and chargeback support.
- Ask exactly who you will speak to when something goes wrong, and how quickly.
- Read the contract terms, including notice periods, reserves and minimums, before you sign.
What should you look for in a payment gateway when selling across borders?
Look for a gateway that supports the payment methods and currencies your customers use, settles funds in a way that suits your business, protects you from fraud and chargebacks, and gives you a real person to talk to. Price matters, but only once those basics are right.
Choosing a gateway is often treated as a technical decision, made quickly by whoever is building the website. In practice it shapes your conversion rate, your cash flow and how much time you spend dealing with problems. The questions below will help you compare providers on the things that matter once you are live.
Does the gateway cover the local payment methods your customers use?
This is the first question to ask, because a gateway that cannot offer the methods your customers expect will cost you sales every day. Cards and wallets are essential, but in many markets a local method is what shoppers look for first.
List your top countries and check each provider against them. Dutch shoppers expect iDEAL, Belgians Bancontact, Poles BLIK and Swiss shoppers TWINT. Our guide to local payment methods in Europe is a useful starting point. Ask too whether each method is actually available to a business like yours, because availability often depends on your sector and risk profile, not just the country.
Which settlement currencies and timings are available?
Ask which currencies you can be paid out in and how long funds take to reach your account, because both affect your cash flow and your exchange costs. A long list of accepted currencies means little if everything is converted back into one currency at a poor rate.
- Can you accept payments in the customer's currency and settle in the currency you need?
- How often are settlements made, and does timing differ by payment method?
- Is there a rolling reserve, and if so, how is it calculated and when is it released?
- Is settlement consolidated, with one report that reconciles across methods and markets?
How will you connect the gateway to your website or app?
Most gateways offer a hosted checkout, plugins for common ecommerce platforms and an API, and the right choice depends on your team and your platform. Ask which options are supported and what each one involves.
A hosted checkout is the fastest route and keeps card details off your servers, which reduces your security burden. Plugins for platforms such as Shopify or WooCommerce suit online shops that want a quick setup. A REST API gives full control for businesses with developers and custom flows, such as marketplaces with complex payment journeys. Ask whether you can start with one option and move to another later without switching provider.
What fraud and chargeback support is included?
Ask what fraud screening happens before a payment is authorised, how 3D Secure 2 is handled and what help you get when a customer disputes a charge. Cross border sales tend to attract more fraud attempts, so this matters more as you grow.
Good fraud screening stops obvious fraud without blocking genuine customers. 3D Secure 2 should be supported in a way that allows frictionless approval for low risk payments. On chargebacks, ask whether you get clear notifications, guidance on what evidence to submit and help understanding your dispute rate. Sectors with higher dispute risk, such as digital goods and gaming, should ask about this in particular detail.
How transparent is the pricing?
Pricing is transparent when you can see exactly what you will pay for each payment method in each market, plus any setup fee, monthly minimum or other charges, before you sign. A single headline rate rarely tells the whole story.
Ask for a written breakdown by method and market, and check what is not included: currency conversion, refunds, chargebacks, cross border cards and payouts can all carry separate costs. Model the total cost on your real mix of countries and methods. A provider with a slightly higher headline rate may cost less overall once everything is counted.
What are the onboarding criteria and how long does approval take?
Onboarding criteria vary between providers, so ask what information they need, which businesses they can support and what usually slows approval down. A clear answer upfront saves weeks of back and forth.
Expect to provide company details, information about what you sell, expected volumes, average transaction value and the countries you sell into. Some providers approve quickly and then review your account later, which can lead to sudden holds on funds. Others take a little longer upfront but give you more certainty once you are live. Ask which approach a provider takes and what happens if your business changes.
Who do you speak to when something goes wrong?
You should know the name of the person or team you will contact when payments fail, funds are delayed or a dispute escalates. When problems happen, they are usually urgent, and a ticket queue is little comfort.
Ask whether you will have a named contact who knows your account, how they can be reached and what happens outside business hours. Think about a busy sales weekend when a payment method stops working. The difference between a quick call to someone who understands your setup and a generic support form can be significant.
Which contract terms should you check?
Check the length of the contract, the notice period, any monthly minimums, reserve terms and the conditions under which the provider can suspend your account or hold funds. These terms matter most at the moments you least expect them to.
- How long is the minimum term, and what does it cost to leave early?
- What notice is given before pricing changes?
- Under what circumstances can funds be held, and for how long?
- Who owns stored card tokens if you move to another provider?
How does Aldgate Pay approach these questions?
Aldgate Pay works through a tailored proposal and a named contact because cross border businesses rarely fit a standard price list. Your merchant application tells us about your company, what you sell, your volumes, average transaction, countries and preferred connection type.
From that we prepare a proposal setting out a one time setup fee, transaction rates by method and market and any monthly minimum based on volume, along with the payment methods available for your markets and sector. You connect through a hosted checkout, a plugin or our REST API, and processing runs through our licensed processing partner, which offers more than 150 payment methods. Throughout, you deal with a named contact who knows your account. It means you can answer every question in this guide before you commit.
Check method coverage for your markets with our payment methods tool, or start your merchant application to receive a tailored proposal.