Whether you’re doing business online or in a physical store, accepting more flexible payment options, such as online payments, can be vital to your success. For one, such an option enables you to get paid faster. They’re usually instant, unlike traditional methods, such as credit card payments or cheques, that may take several days before you receive the remitted cash.
Furthermore, this can allow you to attract more customers and expand your audience reach. Aside from offering a seamless payment process and making a customer’s experience more efficient and convenient, online payments don’t have geographical boundaries; hence you can sell your products in countries far away from yours.
That said, here’s how you can start accepting online payments for your business:
- Set Up Mobile Payment Accounts
Mobile payment accounts, also known as mobile wallets, are one of the most used online payment methods worldwide. Mobile payment allows your customers to make transactions using their phones or tablets. This enhances customer convenience, making payments faster and more flexible.
Furthermore, mobile payments are more secure, unlike other methods like cash or credit cards, which you can misplace or lose. Even if you lose your phone, nobody can make transactions from your account unless they know your password.
In addition, mobile payments are fast as there’s no counting of cash and chip card transactions, which may take some time. To introduce mobile payments, say, Apple Pay to your business, you must first learn how to accept apple pay. This gives you an idea of how it works, thus enabling you to implement it without hassle.
- Create Online Payment Links
A payment link is a URL that directs customers to a stand-alone page where they can make their transactions. You can use it for single or numerous clients. On the other hand, you can create a unique link for every product or service you offer. The good thing about payment links is that they’re generally easy to set up.
You can create a payment link if you:
- Sell through several digital channels
- Have different target audiences
- Want to sell personally without hardware
- Don’t have a website
- Have a website that doesn’t support eCommerce
- Establish Recurring Billing
A merchant automatically deducts payments from a customer’s account for recurring goods and services in recurring billing. This approach can enhance a positive customer experience and ensures uninterrupted cash flow for your business. It also prevents late payments by processing them on time. However, before setting up recurring billing, you need the consent and approval of your customer.
To set up this online payment system, start by obtaining your client’s payment information. From there, select a billing system that meets your business requirements. Also, establish a pricing plan in the billing software, and determine the frequency and how much you’ll charge specific customers. And lastly, verify your billing system before sharing it with your clients.
- Choose A Payment Service Provider
Payment service providers (PSPs) are third-party companies that allow you to accept various online payments. They act as a communication link between you and your clients. Ideally, when customers make their payments, a transaction request is sent to your payment gateway. A PSP checks the customer’s details and confirms they have sufficient funds. If yes, the PSP starts transferring money from the client’s account to your merchant account and sends notifications about the complete payment to you and your customer.
Some benefits of choosing a PSP include:
- Secure transactions: PSP transaction requests feature secure socket layer encryption, ensuring maximum security.
- PSPs accept numerous payment methods: This ensures your clients can conveniently select their preferred payment options. Also, this level of accessibility augments customer satisfaction.
- You acquire monthly reports on payments: Most PSPs provide monthly reports of the payments and transactions made to your account.
- You can add new payment methods seamlessly: There’s an increase in the number of payment methods being established now, and PSPs ensure they’re automatically available to you.
- Create Click-To-Pay Email Invoicing
This is one of the best ways of accepting online payments for your business. It’s time-efficient and reduces the paperwork in your company. Unlike conventional invoicing, which may take time to reach the customer and is even prone to error, email invoicing is quick and more accurate.
Essentially, you send the invoice via email, and with a simple click, your clients can open and enter their preferred payment options and pay you immediately.
Conclusion
Accepting online payments is an excellent way of growing your business. Bearing in mind that most people are moving from cash to digital payments, not providing them with a method that suits them could make you miss out on more sales.
The good thing is that there are several online payment options, and you can choose one that meets your business goals and customers’ needs. The tips outlined herein can guide you on how to start accepting online payments. Master them and have your clientele pay you from anywhere and at any time.