What Is The Difference Between Onsite and Offsite Payment Methods?

With MemberMouse you can configure two types of payment methods: onsite and offsite. Onsite payment methods allow you to collect credit card information right on your site, which means the customers can complete the entire checkout process without being directed to another site. Stripe and Braintree are examples of Onsite payment vendors. With offsite payment methods, MemberMouse sends the customer to your payment vendor's secure, 3rd party website to complete their purchase. Following the successful completion of their order on the 3rd party site, MemberMouse will be notified and the appropriate account-related actions will be taken. PayPal is an example of an offsite payment vendor.

Offsite payment options like PayPal have some advantages (user familiarity is one of the big ones), and are fully supported in MemberMouse as a payment method. However, they offer less functionality than onsite gateways. There are also some technical disadvantages to them, as it can be hard for MemberMouse to know the status of any order if the user leaves the process before coming back to your site. When this happens, a member goes into a “pending status”

Onsite payment options are a good option if you believe the volume of transactions on your website will be high. For example, some onsite payment methods (card-on-file options like Stripe) will allow you to have an encrypted copy of a customer's payment profile token on your site, so that you can utilize 1-Click Purchase Links for easier up-selling. However, because the transaction happens on your site, you will need to purchase an SSL certificate to encrypt all information sent to and from your site, which can have an additional cost. It can appear more professional than the third-party option, and many providers offer transaction rates that are comparable to PayPal.

The important thing to remember is that whether you decide to go with an onsite, offsite, or both, the decision is up to you. Take into consideration the specific needs of your target audience. For a breakdown of different Payment Methods supported by MemberMouse and their available features, see our Payment Methods Overview.