Payment gateways for e-shops, their implementation and comparison of 7 of them

Choose a gateway for your e-shop based on what is most important to you — for some, it may be the number of payment methods, for others, the cost of services, and for yet others, the accepted currencies or languages in which the gateway communicates with customers.

Teach your e-shop to accept card payments

If everything goes smoothly and all parties involved (payment gateway provider, website supplier, and you as the client) actively cooperate, the entire process can be limited to a few weeks. The resulting time may vary because each payment gateway manages the proposal and contract signing phase differently. In the case of GP webpay, for example, you communicate directly with one of the banks that uses and offers this gateway. ThePay, on the other hand, has automated the acquisition of all necessary information, price calculation, and the contract signing process, all of which takes place online in several steps on the website. 

Implementing the gateway in 6 steps

1. You contact the payment gateway provider or directly the bank. Based on your turnover and sometimes the frequency of payments, average payment amount, or the industry in which you operate, they will offer you

• usually two of their standard pricing tariffs to choose from,
• a custom calculated service price.

2. You negotiate specific terms of cooperation and sign a contract for card payment acceptance.

3. You receive a test account and access details for the payment gateway administration, which you pass on to the website supplier, who will implement the gateway on your e-shop.

4. You test, along with the website supplier and gateway provider, the functionality of the test version and request the necessary information for the live launch of the payment gateway on your e-shop.

5. You provide the data to the website supplier, who will then launch the payment gateway into live operation.

6. You accept card payments on your e-shop.

Comparison of offers from 7 popular payment gateways

GP webpay — the most widely used payment gateway in the Czech Republic

The GP webpay payment gateway is provided by Global Payments Europe, a global player in card transaction processing. As a result, the gateway is available in 19 language versions – in addition to Czech and English, it includes European languages such as German, French, Spanish, as well as Ukrainian, Danish, and Portuguese.

Banks supporting GP webpay: 

ČSOB (in the Czech Republic and Slovakia), Komerční banka, UniCredit, Raiffeisen Bank, Česká spořitelna

Payment methods: 

• payment by cards from domestic and foreign associations Mastercard, VISA, Diners Club, and American Express 
• payments via digital wallets MasterPass and Mastercard Mobile
• does not support bank transfers and electronic wallets

Currencies: 

crowns (CZK), euros (EUR), dollars (USD), pounds (GBP), forints (HUF), zlotys (PLN), rubles (RUB)

We have implemented GP webpay on:  COMFOR.cz , Pleas.cz , Ajala.cz

GoPay — a gateway that offers over 55 payment methods

The GoPay payment gateway is operated by a Czech company that obtained an electronic money issuer license in 2007. Due to the gradual expansion of its list of payment methods, it is used by over 11,000 merchants and tens of thousands of users across Europe. Its success is also attributed to the fact that the gateway supports 13 languages, including Polish, Croatian, Hungarian, and Italian.

Payment methods

• payment by VISA, VISA Electron, Mastercard, Mastercard Electronic, Maestro cards
• online bank payments - Platba 24 (ČS), MojePlatba (KB), ČSOB, ePlatby (Raiffeisen Bank), UniCredit Bank, mPeníze (mBank), Fio banka, Era
• bank transfers - MONETA Money Bank, Air Bank, Equa bank, ING Bank, Expobank, Oberbank, Sberbank, Hello bank, VÚB banka
• electronic wallets - PayPal, Google Pay, GoPay, Bitcoin, MasterPass
• others - Premium SMS, m-payment, Paysafecard, superCASH 

Currencies:

crowns (CZK), euros (EUR), dollars (USD), pounds (GBP), zlotys (PLN), forints (HUF), Romanian new leu (RON), Bulgarian leva (BGN), Croatian kunas (HRK)

We have implemented GoPay on: Doke.cz

ComGate — Czech gateway supporting most e-commerce platforms

The Czech company ComGate, based in Hradec Králové, has been operating a payment gateway since 2010 and serves around 2,000 customers. It offers dozens of payment methods, as it is connected not only with Czech banks but also with those in Slovakia and Poland. The payment gateway currently supports Czech, Slovak, and English.

Payment methods:

• payments by VISA, VISA Electron, MasterCard, Maestro, Diners Club
• bank and online transfers - KB, Česká spořitelna, MONETA Money Bank, mBank, Raiffeisen bank, Fio Banka, ČSOB, ERA, Equa bank, Sberbank, UniCredit Bank

Currencies: crowns (CZK), euros (EUR), zlotys (PLN), forints (HUF), dollars (USD), pounds (GBP)

We implemented ComGate on:  pneuboss.cz , vinotrh.cz

ČSOB — payment gateway for bank clients

Československá obchodní banka previously used the GP webpay gateway but now offers its own payment solution. A condition for using this gateway is having a current account with ČSOB. For new customers, this service is offered under favorable conditions.

Payment methods:

• payment by VISA, Mastercard, Maestro, Diners Club
• digital wallet Masterpass by Mastercard

Currencies: crown (CZK), euro (EUR), dollar (USD), pound (GBP)

We implemented the ČSOB payment gateway on: triexpert.cz, icarus-ag.cz

PayPal — gateway available in 200 countries worldwide

The online payment system introduced by Elon Musk in 1998 identifies payments using email addresses. Both the customer and the merchant must have a registered PayPal account, although this service is free for users. The popularity of the system is evidenced by figures indicating that PayPal has over 200 million accounts and is preferred by 15 million merchants.

Currencies: crown (CZK, DKK, NOK, SEK), euro (EUR), dollar (USD, AUD, CAD, HKD, NZD, SGD, TWD), pound (GBP), Brazilian real (BRL), forint (HUF), Israeli shekel (ILS), yen (JPY), Malaysian ringgit (MYR), peso (MXN, PHP), zloty (PLN), ruble (RUB), franc (CHF), Thai baht (THB)

We implemented PayPal on: mcrace.cz

PayU — a gateway used on four continents

The global payment solution PayU operates in 17 markets worldwide, from Europe and Asia to South America and Africa. It thus reaches two billion potential customers. PayU is part of the fintech division of the global internet group Prosus. Therefore, it is no surprise that the gateway operates in 25 languages, including those of Scandinavian, Baltic, and Balkan countries.

Payment methods:

• payment by Visa, Mastercard, Maestro cards
• bank transfers - Česká spořitelna, KB, mBank, Fio banka, MONETA Money Bank, ČSOB, Raiffeisen bank, UniCredit, Poštovní spořitelna, Sberbank
• electronic wallets - Visa Checkout, Masterpass, Google Pay, Apple Pay
• others - PayU Express service - one-click card payment, PayU Mobile service - one-click payment without leaving the mobile app

Currencies: crowns (CZK, DKK, NOK, SEK), euros (EUR), dollars (USD), pounds (GBP), zlotys (PLN), forints (HUF), rubles (RUB), Swiss francs (CHF), Romanian new leu (RON), Bulgarian leva (BGN), Croatian kunas (HRK), Ukrainian hryvnias (UAH)

ThePay — a Czech gateway from Vysočina

The Jihlava-based company ThePay serves around 1,200 predominantly Czech clients. The gateway is available in the most widely spoken languages, from Czech and English to Arabic and Vietnamese. ThePay is a relatively young company that is part of the HAVEL HOLDING, s.r.o. group.

Payment methods:

• payment by Mastercard, VISA, VISA Electron, Maestro, Diners Club cards
• online bank payments - Platba 24 (ČS), MojePlatba (KB), ePlatby (Raiffeisen Bank), mPeníze (mBank)
• bank transfers - MONETA Money Bank, Fio Banka, ČSOB, ERA, Equa bank
• others - QR, Bitcoin

Currencies: crowns (CZK), euros (EUR), dollars (USD), pounds (GBP), rubles (RUB)

Implementation of a payment gateway on an e-shop

In the article, we compared 6 of the most popular payment gateways among our clients. In total, there are nearly twenty available to us, as many banks have developed their own. Suppliers and web developers, like us, can handle the implementation of any payment gateway. So if you are preparing your own e-shop or want to expand an existing one to include card payment options, get in touch and we will tackle it together.