Expanding into an online business is inevitable for any business in today's era, even if your main product or service is often purchased directly. Accepting online payments helps you reach a large number of customers and maintain a smooth shopping experience for your customers. Today at PlutusPay we will analyze in detail 4 quick, easy and effective methods for your business to accept online payments.
Online payment service provider
If you have a service business or sell products online, an online payment provider is likely the most popular method for you to receive money from your customers or clients.
PayPal and Stripe are the most popular payment providers, but you can also use Shopify or WooCommerce's built-in Payment Processor if you run an e-commerce business through one of those platforms.
Most modern website builders like Squarespace, Kajabi, and WordPress integrate easily with payment providers. You simply create an account with PayPal or Stripe, then enter that information into your website builder to enable payments on your site.
Online payment providers allow you to accept credit card payments or payments directly from the customer's account to your account with the provider (for example, PayPal).
Creating an account with most payment providers is free, and you'll pay a fee per transaction, around 3%, depending on the platform you choose.
ACH transfer
Automated Clearing House (ACH) is an electronic fund transfer network between bank accounts in the United States. This is how you receive your money if you receive a payment via direct deposit.
To accept payments via ACH transfer, it's simple. You simply provide direct deposit information to your customers, including:
- Your bank routing number.
- Your bank account number.
Some companies will require a voided check, or a voided check, clearly stating the above two information, or an authorization form from your bank. However, many companies will process an ACH transfer with just the above information.
Receiving payments via ACH transfer often falls in the hands of the payer as they need to have access to the necessary accounts and tools, including an ACH payment provider such as Gusto, Bill.com or Stax. The payer also bears the fee for an ACH transfer, compared to a credit card transaction, where you as the recipient bear the fee.
However, you can receive payments via ACH transfer through Stripe with your own account. You will pay a fee of 0.08% per transaction (limit $5), and customers must connect their bank accounts using the Plaid network.
Mobile payment
Electronic wallets such as Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay make online payments extremely convenient for customers. Their credit card information will be entered automatically, so they don't have to look for information on the physical card again.
To be able to accept mobile payments on your website, you need to follow each wallet's instructions below to be able to integrate them into your website:
Most popular E-commerce platforms support mobile payments and make it easy to adopt this method simply by activating them.
Invoicing and payments
You can make it easier for your customers to pay for your services by using an invoicing platform that allows for one-click payments right from their email.
Invoicing platforms including QuickBooks, Zoho, Xero, Wave, and Harvest offer a suite of integrations with major payment providers, including PayPal and Stripe. You can send invoices to customers via email, and these platforms will build messages that include a payment button to encourage customers to pay immediately.
You can choose which payment methods you want to accept – Choose one you use often or multiple types to give your customers more options – it's all up to you.
Benefits of accepting payments online
No matter what you sell, your business can benefit from accepting online payments, because they:
- Expanding customer base: Accepting multiple forms of payment makes doing business with you more convenient for many customers. A more seamless checkout process, better customer experience, and increased conversions for your store.
- Set up membership packages and subscriptions easily: Payment providers like Stripe and PayPal make it convenient to automate recurring payments. This helps you avoid the hassle of invoicing customers and collecting payments each billing period. Furthermore, this will improve customer retention rates (since customers won't see a monthly renewal confirmation bill).
- Get money faster: Online payments always take place instantly or at most within 2 or 3 days you will receive payment from the customer.
Challenges when accepting online payments
Although accepting payments online has many benefits, it also comes with drawbacks. However, these limitations often pale in comparison to the benefits that direct payments give you:
- Fee: Because online payments require an intermediary to process the transactions, they need to get paid. You will have to spend a portion of your revenue on payment processing fees.
- Data management: The risk of data theft and credit card fraud is much higher when customers shop online. If you use a self-hosted payment gateway, you will be responsible for protecting your customers' financial information on your server. You can transfer that responsibility to a hosted payment gateway or a payment service provider.
Not sure what a self-hosted payment gateway is? Read more in this article by PlutusPay: The most popular types of payment gateways today
EN 
VI