A gateway facilitates communication between financial institutions, merchants, and customers. The payment gateway encrypts credit card details and other sensitive information to ensure data security. Payment gateways verify transactions in real time, which reduces the risks of fraudulent activity and declined payments. Payment gateways accept a variety of payment methods including debit and credit cards, electronic wallets, and cryptocurrency. Payment gateways can be integrated with websites and e-commerce platforms so that customers have a smooth checkout process. Payment gateways such as PayPal, Stripe, and Authorize.net are popular. Each offers different features, including recurring billing and multi-currency.