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If you want to sell online, having a virtual store will be your best choice. And it is a good option not only for large companies looking to diversify their sales channels by migrating them to digital, but also for individuals and SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) that are just starting their business, since A virtual store is an affordable and scalable channel to sell products.
We know that in the development of your virtual store, it is very important to keep in mind an attractive and easy-to-use design, but it is equally important that you have Payment methods that are easy, safe and reliable for your customers.
Your online store may have a great design, you may offer the best products at a good price, but if at the time of payment, customers feel that it is too complicated, takes too long or are asked for too much information during the payment process, they will feel insecure and abandon the purchase.
In other words, choosing the wrong payment method will make you lose money.
You may also be interested in: The 8 most common mistakes when creating virtual stores
This is why we want to talk to you about the famous payment gateways, especially those that can be integrated into WooCommerce. This way, you will have an idea of which one can be the most useful for your business and will make your sales safe and successful.
What is a payment gateway?
Payment gateways are platforms that process payments, whether by credit card or other methods, that you receive through your online store.
These platforms are responsible for verifying, authorizing and, if necessary, rejecting the payment made by a client. It is like being an intermediary for the seller, but on the Internet.
It should be noted that, although there is no additional cost for the customer in their purchase (except for taxes and shipping costs, if applicable), for the seller, there are fees and commissions to pay as part of the ease and support that the payment gateway assumes to facilitate the purchase for customers.
NOTE: Did you know that we can also include a payment gateway in the design of your website, without having a virtual store? Ask us how.
Why a payment gateway for WooCommerce?
We know that there are various CMS specialized in virtual stores (such as Prestashop either Magento, for example), but with the rise in the use of WordPress as a content management system that has grown in its number of users, WooCommerce (which is the WordPress e-commerce plugin) has become The most popular system for virtual stores (with more than 29 million downloads).
1 in 3 virtual stores in the world are made in WooCommerce.
This is due to its ease of configuration, and thanks to its large community of developers who generate content, add-ons and support, you can easily find solutions for everything related to the plugin.
You should also keep in mind that the different payment gateways in Colombia They don't work on all commerce plugins.
The great advantage of WooCommerce is that virtually all payment gateways have a plugin developed and available for installation in your online store.
In case your gateway does not have a plugin developed for WooCommerce, we recommend you look for another option*
* Important: Although it is always possible to develop a custom plugin to connect your WooCommerce with the payment gateway of your choice, you are likely to have headaches in the future (or many extra costs), since you will have to constantly update your plugin in response to changes in the payment gateway, in WooCommerce or in WordPress. It is best to choose a payment gateway that has a plugin developed and updated for WooCommerce.
You may also be interested in: Benefits of WooCommerce for creating your virtual store
Payment gateways for WooCommerce in Colombia
The payment gateways that we will mention below operate and are certified by Colombian banking entities, so payments and collections are governed by Colombian legislation and the currency to be used is the Colombian peso. In addition, they allow them to be used by small and medium-sized companies or independents who are starting out in the world of the Internet.
The order in which the payment gateways are listed does not determine the quality, preference or popularity of that payment gateway:
Market Payment
This payment gateway emerged thanks to the growth in the use of Mercado Libre in Latin America, which is why this gateway is mainly used on this sales platform, and can be used in other virtual stores.
The great advantage of this platform is that it is the only payment gateway that has fraud coverage. Usually, if someone makes a purchase from you with a stolen credit card and you send the products, you can lose the money from the sale in case the legitimate owner of the credit card reports this transaction as fraud. Mercado Pago has a policy (applied to all transactions) that, in case you are paid with a stolen credit card, if you send the merchandise and then there is a claim, Mercado Pago is responsible for 100% of the money.
Like other payment gateways in Colombia, MercadoPago also charges a cost for each transaction, in this case it is 3,29% + $800 + VAT.
How to activate the Mercado Pago preferential rate?
As Gulupa Digital is a company allied to Mercado Pago, our clients enjoy a preferential rate of 2,79% + $800 + VAT (this includes the 100% fraud policy).
If you also want to have this preferential rate, in the Mercado Pago plugin for WooCommerce, you must add the following code in the field of integrator_id in the Mercado Pago options:
If you want to integrate it into your WooCommerce you can find the plugin Mercado Pago payments for WooCommerce in the WordPress repository.
PayU Latam
PayU Latam is currently the most used payment company in Latin America, especially in countries such as Colombia, Brazil, Chile, and Argentina.
As a payment company, it charges a commission for each transaction in addition to the regulatory tax collection of each country, and although it has a high collection fee, it is one of the safest payment gateways.
The PayU Latam transaction fee is 3,49% + $800 + VAT.
A great advantage of PayU as a payment gateway in Colombia is that it offers a wide variety of payment methods that adapt to people's needs. It offers cash methods such as Baloto, SuRed and Efecty, credit and debit cards thanks to PSE and also offers the possibility of payment through banks.
If you want to purchase this payment gateway for your Woocomerce, You can download it from their page, you should keep in mind that you must have WordPress 3.8 or higher (although we recommend that you always be running the latest version of WordPress) and WooCommerce 2.0 or higher on your website.
Wompi
This payment gateway is supported by Bancolombia, we have tested it in more than 10 virtual stores and it has performed well (including during peak traffic periods such as VAT-free days and Black Friday).
What makes many clients prefer this gateway over the others is its low commission rates and the possibility of their clients paying them through Nequi.
Wompi's transaction fee is 2,65% + $700 + VAT.
Among the payment methods accepted by Wompi are credit cards (Visa, Mastercard, Amex), PSE, Bancolombia Correspondents and Nequi.
ePayco
It is another of the payment gateways in Colombia most used by virtual store owners, which always seeks to offer simple and transparent procedures.
This payment gateway has two plans:
- ePayco Collect, which only charge you for what you use
- ePayco Gateway, For businesses with a unique code, the latter must have an agreement with the corresponding banking entity.
As a payment gateway, ePayco offers you 100% online payment methods such as credit and debit cards and semi-online methods such as Baloto and Efecty.
The ePayco transaction fee is 2,99% + $900 + VAT (or 2,68% + $900 + VAT for businesses with a Davivienda account).
The great advantage is that it offers great payment tools: Collection email, collection link, virtual dataphone, SMS, collection button and recurring payments. All these tools will help you collect your payments, if you want to include it in your WooCommerce you must download the plugin and install it.
PayPal
PayPal is one of the most widely used online payment entities in the world, and can be used by individuals or companies, so it adapts to the needs of each person.
This payment method is especially useful for people who sell to other countries, so the prices will be in dollars as a facilitator for both the buyer and the seller.
When you download and install WooCommerce, PayPal comes by default as a payment gateway, offering its own Checkout, payment button, SDK and REST API, allowing you to perform any integration with the programming language you want.
PayPal fees vary depending on the country and method of payment you receive, and range from 3.4% to 5.9%.
If you want to collect your money, you must do so through a bank with which you have an agreement in Colombia. Keep in mind that you will be charged a transaction fee.
Colombian payment gateway commission comparison
| Payment gateway | Commission |
|---|---|
| Market Payment | 2,79% + $800 + VAT* |
| Wompi | 2,65% + $700 + VAT |
| ePayco | 2,99% + $900 + VAT |
| PayU Latam | 3,49% + $800 + VAT |
| PayPal | 3.4% to 5.9% |
* using the integrator_id:
More payment gateways in Colombia
There are many other payment gateways in Colombia, among which we highlight:
Each of these, plus the ones we showed you above, have their advantages, disadvantages, rates and payment methods, so you should take all these aspects into account to decide which one best suits your virtual store.
Keep in mind the user experience, the most important thing is that it is easy and reliable for them, and for added security, you should have an SSL certificate to ensure that their personal data will always be protected.
Do you need help choosing your payment gateway or in the design of your virtual store? Write to us: we can help you.
