Gateways are a must to run an online business and even an in-store company that supports online payments. First Data Global Gateway is a solution to cater to most of your payment processing needs. First Data Global Gateway was also previously known as YourPay and LinkPoint.
This First Data Global Gateway review will describe every pro and con so you can decide what’s best for your business.
It is a virtual solution that permits debit and credit card payment acceptance for e-commerce businesses. Other transaction processing features like electronic checks, gift cards, PayPal, and Google checkout are also a part of their service. First data provides separate secure hosted pages for the customers to make secure payments. A virtual terminal and APIs are supported by this gateway as well.
Services of First Data Global Gateway
First Data Global Gateway makes business management straightforward through its helpful features. Users can accept payments, make receipts, view reports and progress, analyze automatically created charts and graphs, and save themselves from fraud. Below you can briefly review the features of the gateway;
Virtual Terminal of First Data
The Virtual Terminal of First Data is the most liked feature if we consult the reviews.
It allows merchants to easily accept all online payments through a secure internet connection and enables cookies and JavaScript. It smoothly processes mail orders, phone orders, and in-store card transactions. Voids, returns, and refunds are no problem for the virtual terminal to deal with. It processes up to level two transactions, but more precise data is mandatory to deal with purchase cards that need level 2 payments. Usually, limited access is granted to lower-level employees to run the business smoothly. Virtual terminal solves this problem by adding a multiple-user option.
The virtual terminal also offers optional add-ons that make the transaction efficient. Reviews claim that the Cherry keyboard reader and MagTek mini swipe card reader increase transaction speed and provide fast customer assistance.
API Resources
API resources of the FD Global Gateway allow effective integration with the business website. The IP socket of APIs securely integrates the recurring payments, POS terminals, and reservation systems. API resources cover most integration problems of e-commerce websites that would usually require a developer.
Business Analyser
Reporting and business analysis options give the merchant in-depth knowledge about the business. Visual data is always simpler to comprehend; you have graphs and charts available related to complex business payments. Analyzing is still a piece of cake if the business is vast and handles many branches, as this gateway supports multi-store reporting.
You can always explore all kinds of transaction summaries, transaction details, average transaction reports, sales items, recurring bills, etc. And suppose you are not interested in all transactions. In that case, they provide an option to filter out it according to date specifically, card no, item detail, and transaction type.
Hosted Payment Pages
Secure and private transactions are always the biggest demand of customers in reviews, and hosted payment pages make this possible. The First Data Global Gateway integrates with separate hosted payment pages. Whenever a customer tries to complete a transaction, a separate secure hosted page is directed by the gateway that prevents saving any private payment information on the merchant’s computer. Merchants can customize the payment page to match it with the business theme.
Security and Fraud Management
Tokenization and encryption keep all the data safe from breaches and hacks. The gateway provides PCI-compliant services that secure transactions on the hosted payment page. The virtual terminal fulfills industry security standards and uses a 128-bit secure browser.
For further security issues like fraud management, it has solutions in the form of CVV and AVS.
CVV demands to enter a three-digit secret code at the back of the card to complete a transaction. The address verification system (AVS) makes sure an actual owner makes the transaction and prevents chargebacks made by fraud.
Apart from these, all payments are reviewed with essential tools and block suspicious transactions. The great thing is that First Data Global Gateway provides it at no extra cost.
Red Flags of First Data Global Gateway
First Data is one of the most reputed and experienced processors. And considering that, it is natural to expect a diverse and practical range of services. But even a company as old ad First Data is not safe from a couple of setbacks. Here are the most common grievances of customers in reviews;
Level 3 Data
Level 3 data is an important feature that merchants need, especially when taking corporate and government credit card payments. Level 3 data sends a completely itemized list to the cardholder issuing bank. This allows the merchant and the client to analyze the card’s expenses. However, this feature is not available with the first data payment gateway.
Software Glitches
Based on customer reviews, there are instances of glitches occurring during payments. One complaint claimed that each time they tried to make a payment, an error message arose saying the host could not be found. The merchant had to input the client’s information again each time, which resulted in more transaction fees.
Customer Support
Customer support is the backbone of a processor as no processor has perfect services. Good customer support can change the experience for the client altogether. But based on several customer reviews, the company lacks adequate customer service. The support representatives are known to be unprofessional and unhelpful.
Final Thoughts
Other than being one of the biggest and oldest payment processors in the country, the services of First Data are undoubtedly competitive. Merchants have good remarks about many features such as fraud prevention tools pre-included with the virtual terminal at no added fees.
But despite the notable and practical features, some severe drawbacks need to be considered. Lack of level 3 data processing coupled with software glitches can cause inconvenience for users. When these problems are met with sub-par customer service, it is a deal-breaker. The issues highlighted in this First Data Global Gateway review are not ignorable. If you want to avoid them, it’s best to look for other options.
