Checking out checkouts: What is an iFrame payment page?

An iFrame, also knowns as Inline Frame, is an element that loads another HTML element inside of a web page. You can think of it like a window on a webpage through which you can access another webpage or website. But what does this have to do with payments

Last week’s blog post discussed Hosted Payment Pages (HPPs) and their role in online checkouts (don’t worry if you missed it, check out the blog here). As an HTML element, HPPs can be embedded as an iFrame that sits on your website. This means that your entire checkout process appears on your website pages, avoiding the need for redirects, unlike a standard checkout process involving an HPP. This is beneficial for businesses as redirects often prompt cart abandonment, due to customers’ concerns about fraud. Redirects also make checkouts less seamless, which can lead to further abandonment.

As the iFrame payment page is embedded into one of your webpages, you can also ensure better continuity in design and have greater customisation over your checkouts and your customers’ experiences. Adding elements such as further product recommendations or special offers to the same page as the iFrame can encourage last-minute purchases and greater basket value, especially if these are personalised to the customer.

Benefits of an iFrame payment page:

• Looks more in-keeping with the rest of your website and checkouts process, boosting conversions

• Complete customisation possibilities over the page it sits on

• The same security benefits of an HPP, where compliance is managed by your payments provider

• New payments options are added and kept up to date for you (mobile payment methods, foreign currencies…)

  
  

Downsides of an iFrame payment page:

• Require more development work than an HPP redirect

• Limited customisation options for the HPP that sits in the iFrame, which means it can look incongruous with your brand

  
  

Don’t forget to come back for our third and final instalment of our ‘Checking our checkouts’ series next week, where we will be looking at the use of multiple iFrames for fully customisable payment pages, how they differ from a fixed iFrame payment page, and how they can offer you even more control and customisation over your checkouts.