Small businesses are booming the economy. But managing everyday transactions is not an easy task. With innovative technologies coming out rapidly, it is crucial to implement practical solutions that will help improve your bottom line. One product that can empower small businesses and effectively engage your customers is a Payment Processing platform.
A Payment processor can seamlessly integrate a full suite of payment tools in one comprehensive solution – making it easier for small business owners to improve the overall efficiency of their business. These days, small and medium-sized companies face few security issues, limited integration, high processing fee, and poor customer support. CloudBanking eliminates these gaps by providing multiple payment options to have a seamless transaction in every payment.
Virtual card payment is a “card-less” credit card payment that is highly secured and protects the business issuing it. It is designed as an alternative to ACH and check payments and is a cost-effective and easy-to-use method of processing payments. They are the contactless payment that allows the customers to tap their smartphone across the reader. This method is way faster and more convenient than inserting a card. They are also quicker and adds more security than the PIN technology as it transfers the encrypted data to the point-of-sale device instantaneously.
The digital transaction and virtual payment fields are getting more crowded, with hundreds of options available. First, of course, there are industry giants like PayPal and Square. Second, however, small business owners have many virtual payment options when accepting payments from their customers and clients.
With CloudBanking Payment Gateway, you can turn your smart device into an online POS terminal and process credit/ debit card payments directly on any device. CloudBanking uses an authorize.net service that offers several options for accepting payments from customers. In addition, there are various integration methods available to merchants through this system, and small business owners can take advantage of multiple options.
Payment Options for Small Business
The more payment options you provide, the more opportunities you give your customers to pay- giving them more incentive to become your loyal customer. There are various digital payments methods; the most popular are Apple pay, Google Pay and PayPal. While popular methods are suitable, much other payment uses the same technology, making them worth investing. First, however, you have to understand some terms and understand how these payments methods are processed and accessed to make more effective decisions.
- Virtual Terminal
Virtual terminals are innovative technology in the payment process that allows multiple methods and devices for payments. It is a method of accepting payment from credit and debit cards without presenting the card. Instead, they are usually web-based software programs linked to your customer’s account, allowing transactions between a customer and merchant account.
- Payment Gateway
A payment gateway connects customer-facing transactions through a web payment solution. When a customer finalizes a transaction, the information is encrypted and sent to the payment processor. It then forwards it to your card processor and sends it to the customer’s card provider to credit or debit their account.
- Credit Card Processing
Credit cards are the most popular options to pay for groceries and shopping. To set up credit card processing on your website, you need to have an online merchant account with the bank that deals with significant credit card processing, including MasterCard, Visa, American Express, and Discover. You can also get an online merchant account via a third-party merchant account provider, such as Internet Secure or CloudBanking.
The benefit of getting an online merchant account via a third-party provider is that you do not require any security deposits. Moreover, you can quickly set up and sync with e-commerce service packages, including integration with various e-commerce software, woo-commerce, and Shopify.
- Apple Pay and Google pay
Apple pay and google pay are online digital wallets that offer payment options through devices with their operating system. Generally, iPhones and Android phones can link payment methods to most credit and debit card providers. The contactless payment reader accepts connections from the customer’s device and initiates the transaction.
Advantage of Providing Virtual Payment Options to Customers
- Get Paid Faster
Virtual payment methods offer rapid processing time. The merchant does not have to wait for a check to clear. Virtual payments allow merchants to access their money within a couple of working hours with real-time reporting. Getting payments faster can help small businesses improve their cash flow, which is vital for your business’s success.
- Provide various payment options
When you accept digital payment methods, you offer your customers more payment options to provide a more convenient process. In addition, it helps improve your relationships with existing clients as they can pay using the most suitable method for them.
- Provide Data Security
By accepting digital payment methods, small businesses offer their clients peace of mind as payment gateway offers various security layers and encrypts your clients’ account details and personal information. Moreover, with digital payment, the money is transferred directly to your business account securely, so you do not have to worry about your cash misplace or theft.
- Save your productive time.
Virtual Payment service handles the heavy lifting of payment processing for your business and verifies each transaction made by customers. It sends out billing confirmation to you and your customers and manages the process of transferring money from your customer’s account to your merchant account.
You do not have to visit the bank for cash deposit and check to handle, and instead, you can focus on more critical aspects of your business.
- Real-time data Reporting
Online payment services offer real-time reports that can give you crucial insights into the cash flow of your small business and helps you create accurate forecasts to plan for the future of your business. The reports generated by online payment gateways include time to receive payment for invoices, frequently used payment methods, the average invoice amounts, and your most popular product/ or services. These insights can help you make effective decisions to help make your business more efficient and thriving in the future.
Conclusion
The best digital payment service for your small business is the one that meets all the needs of your business and customers and works with your budget. If you need to send invoices via any software, consider the one with convenient payment options. It is a value-added advantage for you and your customers, and it will help you get paid faster. It could be suitable if you experience cash flow issues due to late payments.
What has been your business’s experience with establishing digital payment services? Was it an enhancement or a headache? Share your story in the comments below!
The Comm Entrepreneur 