What is a hosted payment page?

When referring to a hosted payment page, businesses usually mean a special web page provided by a third party for secure, rapid checkout. It means that the company will not need to build its own payment gateway for the website and will still allow customers to pay online for its goods or services.

In this article, we will examine what is a hosted payment page, how it works, and the benefits you can gain from using it. Here you can compare hosted and integrated pages and get a few tips on setting up a hosted one.

Imagine that a customer browses a merchant’s website and adds desired items to the cart. Once they proceed to checkout, they have to choose a payment method. For instance, among online payment choices, they can see a credit or debit card or a digital wallet. 

After this, the customer is redirected to the secure checkout page, which is supported by an external service provider. It is a safe environment for entering their payment details, adding shipping data, or any other information necessary for the purchase. If the customer’s card authorization goes well, the transaction is completed successfully. Customers receive notifications about this and are redirected to the original website.

How interactions between merchant and customer work

Customers start the payment process by selecting their preferred method and providing payment details, all on a hosted payment page. The merchant, meanwhile, is responsible for providing the checkout experience and order details. They redirect customers to the gateway and receive payment confirmation after the procedure. Gateway ensures safe data collection and processing and, after a successful transaction, notifies the customer and merchant about the result.

Merchants, service providers, and donation collectors use hosted payment pages for numerous reasons.

Simplified PCI compliance

Working with a hosted payment solution provider, you basically delegate data protection to professionals. If anything like fraud or hacking happens, you are not responsible, as all the payments are insured by the third party. The biggest part of PCI compliance falls to the service provider, making it easier for merchants to comply with the standard.

Enhanced security

By outsourcing data protection to experts, you will not have to worry about managing, transmitting, or protecting customer-sensitive payment information. All of this is handled by the gateway service, which knows how to make it right and ensure customers' safety.

Fast and easy setup

Setting up a hosted payments page doesn’t require any specific technical knowledge or expertise, and often it is just a matter of copying and pasting a few lines of code into your website.

Improved user trust

Users always appreciate extra security during payments, and using an external payment page increases customer safety.

Support for multiple payment methods

Usually, a hosted checkout page has several payment methods to choose from. As a result, the customer has more options and can select the one that best suits them for the transaction.

Mobile responsiveness

Hosted payment pages work equally well across desktop browsers and mobile devices, significantly simplifying the shopping experience for smartphone shoppers.

Custom branding options

Hosted payment pages often support custom branding, such as adding logos or your brand’s colors, to make the page look more closely aligned with the website and your company.

Multilingual and multi-currency support

Online shops that operate globally can benefit from multilingual support and multiple currency options. It will make the payment process easier for customers from other countries and improve your position in the global market.

We have assembled a comparative table to demonstrate visually the key differences.

Pros and cons of each approach

Hosted page

Integrated page

Which one is right for your business?

The choice of a suitable option mostly depends on the size of the business and payment types. For instance, small and medium-sized online stores may choose hosted payment pages as a simpler solution with an easy balance between control and effort. It is also a good variant for businesses with limited technological resources. Large retailers, marketplaces, and subscription businesses may find integrated checkouts a more reliable and flexible option, thanks to greater customization and control.

If you decide that a hosted page is exactly what you need, it’s time to take the first steps to setting it up.

Choose a payment service provider

Finding a reliable partner is the most important step, so we recommend checking their reputation, stability, and the functionality you need, including language and currency support. For instance, Tranzzo provides reliable fintech solutions for secure payments, and we have already partnered with over 330 banks and PSPs. Our checkout pages support over 30 currencies, different languages, and 50+ payment methods. Contact us, and we will be happy to discuss our potential collaboration.

Configure account and security settings

Once you choose your partner, you need to adjust the merchant account. Make sure that you provide business details and bank information for stable operation. Choose your currency settings and transaction limits. You can also increase the safety of your website by enabling HTTPS. Make sure that the payment request can be sent only from your website. We also recommend checking refund and dispute settings and confirming PCI DSS compliance.

Customize the page design

Now you can decide what kind of customization you want to apply to the page for hosted payments. Will it be a brand component like a logo or website colors? Once you're happy with the look, save your changes and preview the page to make sure everything aligns with your brand identity.

Generate and integrate payment links or buttons

Here you can adjust your links and buttons, additional transaction amount, and currency visual. You can also place a field here for customer details. Prepare return links for success and cancel pages.

Test the payment flow

The last step is to test the payment flow to ensure everything works as expected. Run a few transactions in a safe environment to confirm that payments, confirmations, and notifications are all functioning correctly.

In our experience, three challenges worry businesses most: design limitations, page abandonment, and compatibility with custom systems.

Limited design control

You will not be able to fully control the page design as you could with built-in integration, but you can choose the provider with the most suitable customization options. This way, you can personalize the success and failure pages and ensure the hosted payment page includes your logo and company name.

Redirect-based abandonment

Customers may be scared away by redirection, but you can display a message explaining that they are redirected to your partner for secure payments. It will give them more trust in the procedure. 

Compatibility with custom systems

Integration of hosted payment flow may be tricky when it comes to custom pages and complex management platforms. Sometimes businesses also face issues with data synchronization and order tracking. You can make it easier by mapping order IDs and payment references. 

The hosted payment page is a modern, handy solution for all businesses that need to accept payments without integrating a built-in checkout. With a quick, simple setup, even without an entire in-house IT team, you can add a payment option to the website. With a reliable partner, you can be sure that all payments are processed safely, enhancing customer security and relieving the burden of full PCI compliance. With support for multilingual and multi-currency payment options and mobile access, your customers will be able to make purchases from anywhere in the world.