How can online payment solutions help small businesses thrive?

Online payment gateway solutions are essential for any business, whether it is a large corporation or a small startup. Making online payments is extremely convenient for everyone, so there is no reason why your company should not follow suit.

Accepting online payments via apps for the goods or services you provide, especially for small businesses, can help you reach a larger audience and keep the customer experience running smoothly.

What was once a minor issue has now become a complicated one. In other words, how your small business handles payments used to be simple and straightforward. It could have been cash, check, credit card, or debit card.

However, with the rise of the digital age, as well as increased flexibility and options for customers, the entire payment process has become a significantly more complicated process for merchants, particularly those in the small business field.

As a merchant, you may already be aware that traditional credit card processing services have begun to offer a comprehensive range of eCommerce and online payment solutions.

To make matters even more complicated, the number of mobile payment options that can use proprietary processing devices, smart devices, smart cards, and no-touch terminals has increased in recent years.

Without a doubt, all of these online payment apps and methods are excellent for consumers because they provide flexibility and convenience, but they also required small businesses to go through a lengthy requirements gathering and cost-effective process for each payment method they chose to integrate into their systems. However, the list of requirements varies depending on the payment method and your current business situation.

Setting up a payment method was a simple and easy process a decade or so ago. Businesses, for example, needed a landline, a credit card machine, and then calculated processing fees and other costs that occur as a cost of doing business.

Yes, mobile payment providers are working hard to make the integration process easier for small businesses, but the variety of options can be overwhelming.

Are digital payment solutions really needed though?

Customers and small businesses have benefited greatly from digital payment solutions. It is a convenient tool for accepting payment that is secure, quick, and reduces the company's costs while increasing revenue.

Customers all over the world increasingly prefer online shopping and payment via mobile wallets.

Businesses must have an online presence to attract more customers on a global scale. Customer experience is critical for online businesses, so regardless of industry, small businesses should determine the best and most efficient way to accept payments.

As of January 2021, there are approximately 4.66 billion active mobile internet users worldwide, accounting for more than half of the world's population. These figures are only expected to rise.

Previously, small businesses' reach was restricted to only local users. They can now deliver their products and services without regard to geography thanks to the internet. Having advanced payment platforms is the best option because they allow you to serve global customers while also acting as a bulk payment solution.

The faster and smoother the checkout experience, the happier your customers will be. Furthermore, online payment processing solutions are safe, secure, and quick.

The best online payment gateway, as opposed to traditional payment methods, reduces overhead costs such as bank charges, maintenance, and so on.

Digital payment trends save a significant amount of time, effort, and resources by reducing manual interference and increasing productivity.

Digital payment methods for EMI (Easy Monthly Installments) seamlessly enable recurring billing options, which not only provide convenience for your customers but also guarantee small businesses on-time payment collection.

Here’s how small businesses can accept payments online

Online payment service provider

If you run a service-based business or sell physical products online, having a service provider for your online payment solution is the standard way to accept payments from your clients and customers.

Online payment solution providers also enable you to accept credit or debit card payments or net banking transfers directly from your customer's account to your account.

Anyone, regardless of business, can open an account with a payment service provider, and there is no fee for doing so.

Depending on the platform, you will have to pay a fee of around 3% for each transaction. Furthermore, many POS systems include eCommerce modules that accept online payments.

Mobile payments

Mobile wallets such as Samsung Pay, Google Pay (GPay), and Apple Pay make digital payments via a smartphone extremely convenient for their customers. All bank account information is saved in the applications so that customers do not have to enter the same information repeatedly.

Get a cutting-edge, feature-packed online payment solution for all of your financial and fintech services.

To begin accepting mobile payments on a website that you are creating from scratch, simply follow developer guidelines to integrate each of them into your site.

Invoicing & billing

Whether your business is service-based or product-based, you can make it easier for your customers to pay for what they received by utilising a bill payment solution or invoicing platform that allows one-click payments right from their email.

Xero, QuickBooks, and Zoho are three popular invoicing platforms. All of these platforms integrate with all of the major payment service providers. You can simply email the bill to your customers, and the platforms will generate messages with payment buttons to encourage them to pay right away.

Upsides of accepting online payments for small businesses

Previously, regardless of what business you are in or whether you have a business that sells physical products or services online, they could easily accept non-digital or online payments.

Businesses used to send a bill and then wait for a check to arrive in the mail. You could use the same method right now. However, you would miss out on many opportunities and conveniences that it brings to your business.

Whatever you sell to your customers, you can benefit from the features of digital wallet solutions because they:

Expand your target market. Accepting a variety of payment methods makes running a business more convenient for you and your customers. The simpler the payment procedure, the better the customer experience. This increases the likelihood of repeat business from the same customers.

Automatic recurring payments will be assisted by payment service providers such as PayPal. This will save you a lot of time and money when sending invoices to customers and then collecting payments.

It makes membership and subscriptions more convenient and faster to set up.