Comparing Payment Gateway Fees

Updated January 2023 – In order to enable bookings on your tour and activity website, you will need to choose a payment gateway method that fully supports your needs.

But with so many options available, choosing a payment gateway that is right for your business can be a time-consuming and confusing process. It’s also an incredibly important decision as ultimately your payment gateway will contribute to your overall branding. This means that you’ll need to choose a provider that properly reflects your brand, seamlessly integrates with your booking software, and protects both you and your customers’ sensitive data.

Price is rightfully one of the main factors that will influence your decision. However, with payment gateway providers promoting various prices for different services, it can be complex to compare payment gateway fees.

What should you consider when choosing a payment gateway?

To ensure a seamless booking experience that fits within your budget, it is critical that you consider the various factors that influence the operation of your payment gateway.

Cost

tour pricing

It’s no surprise that cost is one of the largest factors when choosing a payment gateway. A typical payment gateway fee, for example, would be 2.9% of your transaction + 30 cents.

However, it’s not so simple to compare payment gateway fees. Determining the overall cost of a payment gateway can be complicated when there are various fees involved for services that you may or may not need. To get an idea of the operating cost of a payment gateway, it’s critical that you take a close look at the following fees:

Initial setup fees
Cancelation fees
Per-transaction fees
Monthly usage fees
Chargeback fees

Domestic vs international rates

One of the biggest factors that affects the pricing and fees of each payment gateway is where you’re based and where your customers are based.

For example, with RezdyPay, Bob pays 1.45% + 30 cents when someone makes a domestic transaction. However, if someone makes a transaction from the US, Bob will need to pay 2.9% + 30 cents. Here’s what Bob would pay depending on where Sally is from when she booked the $50 tour:

Payment Gateway X	Rate
Domestic	1.5%
International	2.9%

Payment Gateway Y	Rate
Domestic	2%
International	2.5%

At first glance, they may not seem too expensive, but as your business grows, they add up. For example, if an international visitor booked a $500 tour with Bob, Bob would need to pay $14.80 for that single transaction. What this means is every single percentage counts.

Our Advice:

Do your research, find out which payment gateways offer the best rates for your country, and for your main customer segment. Your payment gateway choice could differ greatly depending on where your customers are from. Here’s an example:

Payment Gateway	Domestic Bookings ($)	International Bookings ($)	Total Fee
Payment Gateway X	8000	2000	$178
Payment Gateway Y	8000	2000	$210

Payment Gateway	Domestic Bookings ($)	International Bookings ($)	Total Fee
Payment Gateway X	2000	8000	$262
Payment Gateway Y	2000	8000	$240

Currencies supported

Do you want to accept international transactions for your online bookings? If the answer is yes, then you will need to compare the currencies supported by different payment gateways.

The currencies supported by your payment gateway will be an important consideration for businesses looking to expand to a global market or those that already have an international customer base.

Customer ease of use and familiarity

The booking process should be simple and effortless for your customers. But how does this fact relate to payment gateways?

The answer is simple. There are two types of payment gateways: hosted and integrated.

Hosted gateways will redirect your customer to the payment processor’s platform to finalize their transaction.

Integrated gateways, however, offer a more seamless booking experience as they allow your customers to insert their credit card information on your website rather than another platform. This simple feature helps boost customer trust and ensure a simple payment experience. However it’s important to note that integrated gateways are more complex to set up and that your website will retain more responsibility for security measures.

Security

Of course, security is arguably the most important feature of a payment gateway system. Before choosing a payment gateway, ensure that you check the information security standards that it complies with.

Compliance with Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS) Level 1 is considered the best practice for secure payment gateway integrations. PCI DSS is a series of strict security standards that outline comprehensive requirements that payment gateway providers must follow.

payment gateway

Integrated payment gateways also generally require an SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) certificate. This is the standard encryption method utilized by providers to protect sensitive customer data.

Other security features offered by providers include:

Data encryption
SET – Secure Electronic Transaction
Tokenization

Start accepting online payments with RezdyPay

If you’re looking for a payment gateway that’s made by tour and activity operators for tour and activity operators, take a look at RezdyPay.

RezdyPay is super easy to set up and makes your customer’s payment process a whole lot easier. With our compatibility with mobile wallets like Google Pay & Apple Pay, customers can simply make a payment in a matter of seconds with a click of a button. In fact, according to Stripe, accepting payment methods like Apple Pay can increase conversion rates by up to 250%. That’s definitely an opportunity you don’t want to miss out on.

When it comes to security, RezdyPay is a payment gateway that you can count on. RezdyPay is Level 1 PCI Compliant and SCA Compliant as well – This is the most stringent level of certification available in the payments industry.

Furthermore, as a Rezdy booking software and channel manager customer, you’ll have access to view all your funds from one central dashboard when you use RezdyPay. This gives you the ease of managing all your finances in one place.

And finally, RezdyPay has one of the world’s most competitive fees, with $0 monthly costs and a payment processing fee starting from 1.3% plus 30 cents per transaction.*

Ready to join the thousands of Rezdy operators that grew their bookings by over 27% in 2022?

Start a free 21-day trial or book a demo with our team of experts today to find out how Rezdy can fit within your business.

If you enjoyed this article, be sure to sign up to receive the Rezdy newsletter, a valuable resource for those who want to stay up-to-date on the latest industry happenings.