11 Best Online Payment Gateways In India
By Storeplum Editorial
Posted | 4 min read
In the last decade, Flipkart and Myntra completely changed the way people shop in India. Millennials chose shopping online on these websites primarily due to the convenience that it brought with additional benefits like free returns, refunds etc.
Following the massive successes of these mega brands in the country, many emerging small players began to start selling goods on their own websites as well as on other emerging marketplaces.
In order to support this new found demand of high volume payment transactions, there was a rise of new age payment gateways in India.
This does not mean that payment gateways were not around in India. Most of them have been around since the early days of the Internet boom worldwide. But these lacked the basic intuitiveness of online shopping, did not support modern browsers or had other issues like time consuming merchant onboarding.
New age providers for payment gateways solve not only these problems but also are in the most up to date compliance with security and government guidelines.
Let's take a quick look at these payment gateway providers in India-
11 Best Payment Gateways in India
1. Razorpay
Razorpay payment gateway is one of the best payments solutions available for SMBs and ecommerce brands in India. Founded in 2014, the company has over 950,000 merchants in India and it completed over $60 billion payment volume as of 2021.
Razorpay is a PCI compliant payment gateway provider which also supports international transactions.
Razorpay payment gateway supports the following options-
- Credit card
- Debit card
- UPI
- Digital wallets
- Net banking
Razorpay offers a standard plan which charges 2% per transaction without any annual fee or account setup fee.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Developer friendly APIs | Settlements can take long time in some cases |
| Flash checkout options | Additional chargebacks on refunds |
| Extremely simple and quick onboarding | Support in limited countries |
| Supports subscriptions | Need additional approvals to accept international payments |
| Options for built in shopping cart | - |
| Built in support for ecommerce platforms | - |
2. CCAvenue
CCAvenue is also one of the top payment gateway in India. The company offers payment gateway solutions and ecommerce services to businesses as well as to the Government of India. As a PCI DSS 3.2.1 compliant payment gateway platform, it supports 3D secure 2 (3DS) protocol for credit card authentication.
In the last decade, CCAvenue also began its support to the Middle east as a payment solutions provider. Currently it offers 54 different payment options to its merchants across India and Middle East with support to major Indian and international languages.
Primary payment methods with CCAvenue
- Credit card
- Debit card
- Net banking
- UPI
- Digital wallets
CCAvenue charges a flat 2% per transaction without any additional setup fee or account maintenance fee.
There's an additional fee to support AMEX cards and international transactions.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Well known among merchants | Developer APIs are not straight forward to integrate |
| Payment process is quick | No built in plug and use UI components |
| Used by most of the government institutions | Merchant onboarding can take time depending on their KYC process |
| International support | Very high charges for international cards and currencies. |
| PCI compliant | - |
3. Billdesk
Billdesk is one of the largest payment gateways in India. A majority of government institutions use Billdesk as their primary payment gateway to accept payments from the public in the form of Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS) systems.
Founded in 2000, Billdesk enjoys a large share in this crowded space of payment solutions providers. As of 2015, PwC reported that over 70% of billing transactions in India happen on Billdesk. Its current annual payments volume is around $90 billion.
Payment methods supported by Billdesk
- Credit cards
- Debit cards
- Net banking
- UPI
- Digital wallets
Billdesk charges between 1.5 - 2.5% per transaction based on the method of payment.
There are no additional setup fees or annual maintenance fees for using this payment gateway.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Developer friendly integration. | Checkout pages are not compatible with all browsers |
| PCI compliant | Needs physical verification for merchant onboarding, making the process slow. |
| Low code plugins | Learning curve to understand the dashboard. |
| Seamless checkout experience | - |
4. PayU
PayU group is a Netherlands based payment method provider founded in 2002. Over the years, PayU group acquired several companies in various parts of the world to support payment operations in multiple countries.
In India, PayU group and Ibibo formed PayU India. PayU soon became a leading digital payments provider in India, supporting both domestic and international transactions for merchants in India. The company has over 500,000 online service providers and merchants with an annual volume of over $304 million as of 2021.
Recently, in October 2022, PayU pulled out of a major acquisition of Billdesk.
Payment methods supported by PayU
- Credit cards
- Debit cards
- Net banking
- UPI
- Digital wallets
PayU offers a simple 2% transaction charge for all domestic payment options.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Quick integration | UX can be better |
| Developer friendly API | Longer settlement duration |
| Plug and use UX components. | Higher commissions for international transactions |
| Options to accept payments with SMS, Emails, etc | Additional documentation and verification to support international transactions |
5. Cashfree
According to their website, Cashfree is a global payment services provider company based out of India. Currently , their payment gateway options are supported by over 100,000 merchants in India and outside.
Among the number of online payment services offered by the platform, Cashfree's payment gateway is widely used with features like instant refunds, pre-approved credit cards, etc. As of 2021, the company made $2 million in transaction volumes.
Compared to every payment gateway out there in the market, Cashfree offers the lowest pricing. Let's take a quick look at supported multiple payment methods at Cashfree-
- Credit cards
- Debit cards
- Net banking
- Digital wallets
- Payment via UPI
- BNPL (Buy now pay later)
Cashfree charges a flat 1.9% fee per transaction without any additional setup or maintenance fees.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Extremely easy to integrate. | Merchant dashboard interface could be better |
| Best market rates compared to competition | Longer settlement duration |
| Supports a variety of payment options | Some of the commonly used cards are not activated by default. Need additional approval for that. |
| Support for multiple ecommerce platforms | Payment pages can be more intuitive |
| Built in fraud detection and other risk management features | - |
6. Instamojo
Instamojo is an Indian payment gateway provider especially suited for sellers who are selling digital products online. The company started with a simple platform which would enable small sellers to sell their digital goods on Instamojo's platform. In return, the platform would take about 5% of the transaction as their fee.
Today, Instamojo payment gateway is used by over 200,000 merchants all over India.
Below are the payment modes supported by Instamojo-
- Credit cards
- Debit cards
- Digital wallets
- UPI
- Net banking
Instamojo charges 2% + 3 rupees per transaction and no additional setup or maintenance fees for physical products.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Extremely easy to integrate. | Flat 5% transaction fee for digital products. |
| Quick settlements | Expensive compared to other options |
| Easy to use dashboard | Developer integrations are poor |
| Plugins for popular ecommerce platforms | International transactions are not supported |
7. PayGlocal
PayGlocal is a very recent payments startup in India. Their focus is mainly on enabling merchants to sell their products worldwide with the help of international transactions. As a large number of merchants who want to sell outside India worry about complicated international payment processing, fraud and related chargebacks, PayGlocal came up with a solution exclusively for this segment.
PayGlocal is a payment gateway that supports a unified platform for local currency, multiple foreign currencies and comes with built in risk management and fraud protection,
Supported payment modes by PayGlocal
- Payment links
- All major credit and debit cards
- Net banking
- Other alternative payment methods
Since the company is fairly new, we do not have enough data on the pros and cons from users who are using this platform.
8. HDFC Payment Gateway
Let's go over some of the traditional payment gateways which are offered by institutional banks in India. HDFC payment gateway allows you to accept payments from your customer through their secure PCI compliant offering.
Depending on the nature of your business, the bank will offer a custom solution which customizes charges for you. Below are the wide range of payment options supported by HDFC-
- Major credit and debit cards
- Net banking
- UPI
- Digital wallets
On an average, you'll be charged somewhere between 1.5-2.5% per transaction.
This does not include transaction fees associated with international currencies and AMEX cards.
Just like any other services offered by the bank, HDFC charges a monthly account maintenance fee apart from transaction charges.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Tied directly to your merchant account | Steep learning curve |
| Can get better rates for high volume merchants | Limited options for developer integrations |
| Quicker settlements | No plug and use UX plugins |
| - | Very high fees compared to other options |
9. ICICI payment gateway
Contrary to popular belief, ICICI bank also offers a secure payment gateway solution for merchants who are interested in selling goods online. The bank collaborates with First Data payments to offer this service. With this, ICICI bank also offers merchant accounts which can be directly tied with their corresponding payment gateway. In this case, the bank also acts as a payment processor.
Having collaboration with First Data payments enables merchants to accept online payments worldwide without any additional processing involved. ICICI payment gateway allows international customers to pay in their local currencies. The bank will automatically do the conversions before settlements in the merchant account.
Current payment options supported by ICICI payment gateway-
- Major credit and debit card
- Net banking
- Digital wallets
- UPI
ICICI offers a variable transaction fee based on the merchant volume. It is somewhere between the range of 1.5-2.5% per transaction.
Apart from that, merchants are also supposed to maintain a healthy balance in their merchant account in order to avail these services.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Enables merchants to accept payments globally. | Limited customizations. |
| Quick settlements | Restrictive developer APIs |
| Better rates for high volume merchants | Expensive compared to other options available |
| - | Onboarding is time consuming and manual |
10. Paypal
Many say that Paytm is the Indian alternative to Paypal. But that is hardly true. Paytm has evolved far more than being a way to send money. Paytm is a marketplace in itself which enables sellers to sell their goods on Paytm's own platform.
Paypal on the other hand still proposes its original offering of a seamless way to send and receive money. Although Paypal is a global payments company, it is not that widely accepted in India as a primary method to collect payments. Due to current restrictions by the RBI, PayPal cannot be used to accept domestic payments in India.
Still, there are several online stores which offer Paypal as one of the payment modes including other common offerings. Most commonly, Paypal is used by merchants who are looking to accept payments globally.
Here's a quick overview of payment modes offered by Paypal-
- Digital wallet
- Credit cards
- Debit cards
- Net banking
Paypal charges 4.4% plus a fixed fee per transaction for all international payments.
Note must be taken that Paypal charges extra above the exchange rate for currency conversions.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Extremely easy to integrate. | High transaction fees. |
| Developer friendly API | Longer settlement duration |
| A de facto standard for a long time to accept donations, fundraisers, etc | Easy target for phishing and scams |
| Easy to send and receive money from friends and family | - |
| Supports currencies from almost all countries. | - |
11. Stripe
Stripe is a global payment gateway which allows merchants to accept payments from all over the world instantly. Stripe recently launched their services to Indian merchants and ecommerce brands. Just like merchants in US and Europe, Indian merchants can now completely self onboard on Stripe and start accepting payments from customers located in over 100 countries.
Stripe India supports the following payment modes at the moment-
- Credit cards
- Debit cards
They are actively working on supporting more options which are popular in India like UPI and digital wallets like PhonePe, PayTM, Mobikwik etc.
Currently, Stripe charges 2% on all domestic cards and 3% for cards issued outside India.
There are no additional fees for account setup or account maintenance.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| No monthly fees | Not available in all countries |
| PCI Service Provider Level 1 compliant. Best in class security | Instant deposits at an additional costs. |
| Built in fraud detection and resolution | Does not support popular payment methods outside North America |
| Developer friendly API | - |
| Plug and use UI components for non-tech teams. | - |
| Product inventory management | - |
How to choose among the top payment gateways in India?
Now that you know some of the best performing payment gateway services in India, a common question that may arise is how do you choose the best payment gateway for your business?
There are several factors to consider before pinning down on a digital payment system which you may think might work best for your business. Some of them are-
Quick onboarding
Quick merchant onboarding is a necessity these days. In fact handheld onboarding with longer manual verification is one of the leading causes why merchants won't select a certain provider for their business. Merchants these days are very much inept and are capable of making informed decisions based on the information provided to them.
Some old generation payment platforms still need manual business verification in order to onboard a new merchant. The verification process takes anywhere between 1-2 weeks.
Such steps are not only affecting the merchant but are also affecting the business of these platforms as merchants are more inclined towards quick onboarding so that they can start selling immediately on their online stores.
Supports popular payment options
Most of the next gen payment gateways in India support popular payment methods like UPI and digital wallets. The Reserve Bank of India has mandated additional compliance in order to support these payment options.
Unfortunately, not all payment providers, especially the global ones who are looking to establish their foothold in India have those compliances in place.
Always select a gateway provider which will accept popular payment methods in the country. For example, Razorpay supports UPI, digital wallets, credit and debit cards and more. Stripe on the other hand, a globally leading payment gateway only supports credit and debit cards at the moment. That would not make Stripe an ideal option as a payment services provider immediately.
Secure online payment processing
3D Secure 2.0 is a protocol introduced and implemented by payment processors. Its sole purpose is to authenticate card holders in a card not present or CNP transactions. Authenticating credit cards and various payment options involve understanding transaction context, customer history and other factors. These help in mitigating risks associated with online payments.
A payment gateway is a PCI Service Provider Level 1 if it implements the above and additional security mechanisms to be on top of latest security threats and vulnerabilities associated with online payments.
Most providers usually list down the security protocols and risk management features implemented by them. Choose a payment gateway which is in accordance with compliance as mandated by the RBI.
1. Which is the cheapest payment gateway in India?
According to their website, Cashfree offers the best rates of 1.9% per transaction, making it the cheapest payment gateway in India as of 2022.
2. Is Razorpay safe in India?
Razorpay uses state of the art infrastructure to make sure that the payment information is securely processed. It is a PCI compliant gateway.
3. Which indian payment gateway support recurring payment?
Razorpay, Cashfree, PayU, Billdesk have a native support for recurring payments on credit cards in India. Due to regulations by The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), recurring payments cannot be set up with certain debit cards.
4. Which mode of payment is most popular in India?
With over 8 billion monthly transactions, UPI is the most preferred payment mode in India. There are multiple applications like Google Pay, PhonePe, PayTM, BharatPe which support UPI payments by default.
Storeplum's in-house editorial team brings to you the best content when it comes to growing your online business on the Internet. We write about growth hacks, case studies, government schemes and other related information for e-commerce business.
