Top performing payment gateways of 2024

In the fast-evolving world of digital payments, reliability, speed and uptime are essential factors for merchants and businesses.

The Strawhecker Group (TSG), a recognised analytics and intelligence firm specialising in the payments industry, has announced its 2024 rankings of top-performing payment gateways based on real-world transaction data.

Leveraging its Global Experience Monitoring (GEM) platform, TSG analysed and benchmarked over 20 industry-leading global payment providers, recognising those that demonstrated exceptional performance across key metrics.

GEM: The Benchmark for Gateway Excellence

TSG’s GEM platform stands out for its ability to monitor real credit card transactions and pings from over 35 global locations, providing a merchant-focused perspective rather than relying on synthetic testing.

This real-time analysis helps payment gateways identify issues, optimise performance and ensure a seamless experience for merchants and consumers alike.

According to Mike Strawhecker, President of TSG, “In a highly competitive industry, these gateways lead the way in prioritising reliability, scalability and performance. Our data-driven insights help payment providers stay ahead by addressing market needs and maintaining top-tier service quality.”

2024 TSG Payment Gateway Awards

Based on six key performance indicators – including uptime, transaction speed, authorization rate and minute outages—TSG recognised the following industry leaders:

Best Performing Gateway

Winner: Worldpay (Express)
Runners-Up: JPMorgan Chase (United Payment Gateway), Elavon (Fusebox)

Worldpay (Express) emerged as the top performer, demonstrating industry-leading transaction speed, uptime, and reliability. This recognition underscores Worldpay’s ability to provide merchants with a stable and efficient payment processing environment.

Best Gateway Uptime

Winner: CSG Forte
Runner-Up: REPAY

Maintaining consistent uptime is crucial for seamless transactions. CSG Forte outperformed competitors, ensuring merchants face minimal service interruptions.

Fastest Transactions

Winner: Worldpay (Express)
Runners-Up: JPMorgan Chase (United Payment Gateway), Elavon (Fusebox)

Transaction speed plays a pivotal role in customer satisfaction, particularly in high-volume retail and e-commerce environments. Worldpay (Express) led the pack in authorisation time, providing merchants with a frictionless checkout experience.

Highest Authorization Rate

Winner: REPAY
Runners-Up: Elavon (Converge), Worldpay (Express)

A high authorisation success rate ensures merchants can efficiently process payments without disruptions. REPAY excelled in this area, reducing the number of failed authorisations unrelated to issuers or network issues.

Lowest Gateway Minute Outage (North America)

Winner: CSG Forte
Runner-Up: Worldpay (Express)

For businesses operating in North America, maintaining uptime is critical. CSG Forte led with the lowest number of minute outages, ensuring greater operational stability.

Lowest Gateway Minute Outage (Global)

Winner: Worldpay (Access)
Runner-Up: Worldpay (Worldwide Payment Gateway)

On a global scale, Worldpay (Access) demonstrated outstanding resilience and reliability, minimising downtime across North America, South America, Europe and the Asia Pacific.

What This Means for Merchants

With digital transactions surging worldwide, payment providers must maintain top-tier performance to meet the growing demands of merchants and consumers.

Uptime, authorisation success and transaction speed directly impact revenue, customer experience and operational efficiency.

TSG’s 2024 Payment Gateway Awards highlight the industry’s top-performing providers, offering merchants valuable insights into which platforms deliver the best reliability, speed and security.

As competition intensifies, continuous innovation and real-time monitoring will be critical in shaping the future of payments. For payment providers, maintaining a merchant-first approach will remain essential in securing market leadership.