{"id":10263,"date":"2025-10-17T11:16:39","date_gmt":"2025-10-17T09:16:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/paynopain.com\/glosario\/pasarela-de-pagos\/"},"modified":"2026-01-21T14:00:03","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T13:00:03","slug":"payment-gateway","status":"publish","type":"glosario","link":"https:\/\/paynopain.com\/en\/glossary\/payment-gateway\/","title":{"rendered":"Payment gateway"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2 data-start=\"316\" data-end=\"348\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_is_a_payment_gateway\"><\/span><strong data-start=\"316\" data-end=\"346\">What is a payment gateway?<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p data-start=\"350\" data-end=\"684\">A payment gateway is a technological solution that allows <a href=\"https:\/\/paynopain.com\/en\/glossary\/ecommerce\/\">ecommerce<\/a> businesses to <strong>accept and process payments from their customers securely and efficiently<\/strong>. Its main function is to facilitate online payments, acting as an intermediary between the merchant, the customer, the payment processor, and the involved banking institutions.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"686\" data-end=\"1022\">The payment gateway is responsible for transmitting transaction information securely, whether for in-person payments (for example, via a physical POS) or online payments (through digital services and APIs). Any online business needs a payment gateway to receive payments, protect sensitive data, and ensure the security of operations.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1024\" data-end=\"1173\">Additionally, it allows the secure storage of confidential information, such as credit card data, in compliance with the <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/paynopain.com\/en\/glossary\/pci-dss\/\">PCI DSS<\/a><\/strong> security standard.<\/p>\n<h2 data-start=\"1175\" data-end=\"1213\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_does_a_payment_gateway_work\"><\/span><strong data-start=\"1175\" data-end=\"1211\">How does a payment gateway work?<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p data-start=\"1215\" data-end=\"1297\">The general process of an online payment gateway unfolds in the following steps:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\">\n<h3><strong>Payment initiation and data submission<\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When the customer completes the purchase process on an ecommerce site, the website redirects them to the payment gateway. There, they enter their banking or card details, which are <strong>automatically encrypted<\/strong> to ensure a secure connection.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\">\n<h3><strong>Verification by the issuing bank<\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The card-issuing bank checks whether the customer\u2019s account has <strong>sufficient balance or credit<\/strong> and validates the transaction data.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\">\n<h3><strong>Transaction confirmation<\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Once the transaction is verified, the payment processor communicates with the <strong>merchant\u2019s acquiring bank<\/strong>. If the transaction is authorized, the acquirer proceeds with <strong>settling the amount<\/strong> into the seller\u2019s account.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\">\n<h3><strong>Authorization and communication with the merchant<\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Finally, the customer receives a <strong>confirmation notification<\/strong> indicating that the transaction was successfully completed.<\/span><\/p>\n<p data-start=\"2179\" data-end=\"2439\">If the transaction is declined, the merchant can offer the customer the option to select an <a href=\"https:\/\/paynopain.com\/en\/glossary\/alternative-payment-method\/\"><strong>alternative payment method<\/strong><\/a>. Declines may occur due to various factors, such as network errors, pre-established limits for the merchant, or issues related to the bank.<\/p>\n<h2 data-start=\"2441\" data-end=\"2614\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Hiring_a_payment_gateway\"><\/span><strong data-start=\"2441\" data-end=\"2469\">Hiring a payment gateway<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p data-start=\"2441\" data-end=\"2614\">If you want to learn about all the factors to consider when choosing a payment gateway for your business, we leave you some useful articles:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li data-start=\"2309\" data-end=\"2448\"><a href=\"https:\/\/paynopain.com\/en\/blog\/how-to-choose-the-best-payment-gateway-or-virtual-pos-for-your-ecommerce\/\"><strong data-start=\"2309\" data-end=\"2385\">How to choose the best payment gateway or virtual POS for your ecommerce<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What is a payment gateway?<\/p>\n<p>A payment gateway is a platform that allows ecommerce businesses to accept customer payments securely, efficiently and conveniently.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":9072,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"class_list":["post-10263","glosario","type-glosario","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - 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