It’s no secret that a business of any size has a difficult time surviving without customer payments. Yet, month after month, clients are late in their transactions. On average, 60% of invoices are paid late. One-fifth of these are submitted more than two weeks after the initial due date.
There’s a way to minimize this situation and maintain proper payment cycles for your vendors. This is via payment processing. Here are some of the benefits of this operation.
Automatic Payments
Automatic payments are a boon to a business. They regulate transaction schedules. As a result, you’re able to pay your vendors on time to keep supply chains moving forward.
The best way to enact this is through an automatic clearing house (ACH). Via an application, customers submit their bank routing IDs and account numbers. When their payments are due, the application calls the ACH to automatically deduct the funds from the customer’s account. This method avoids mistakes like missed due dates or overpayments.
Quick Credit Card Approvals
Sometimes, it takes a while for a credit card transaction to go through. Take the situation that happens in hotels. Though money is initially deducted from the card, it’s put back on for verification purposes. Thus, the hotel gets its money 48 to 72 hours after the original stay.
Through payment processing this approval is instantaneous. Online organizations like Transcend Pay offer instant credit card processing so funds are immediately transferred to a vendor’s bank account. From the customer end, this form of approval avoids overdrafts on their accounts.
Different Payment Options
Not everyone has a physical bank account these days. Customers rely on funds in their online financial institutions. Others have foregone these methods altogether and rely on cryptocurrency.
When you work with a payment processing firm you can offer all of these transaction forms. Of course, your organization needs to go through a verification process to be approved. Additionally, your customers simply can’t choose to pay in bitcoin without further credentials. The payment processor sets these options up to increase your client base.
Secure Transactions
The secure means of transferring funds is important to businesses and customers. Too many companies have been subject to cyberattacks where personally identifiable information (PII) has been stolen. Thus, they require protected means to get funds from one place to another.
Payment processing helps through encrypted transactions. They utilized AES 128 or 256-bit encryption to hide PII from potential hackers. Plus, they provide additional methods of confirmation like multi-factor authentication (MFA). This sends a code to a customer’s smart device for an extra layer of approval.
Can be Bundled with a Shopping Cart
Not every website combines shopping carts with payment options. Some platforms have one or another. In the case of independent web design platforms, like WordPress, payment options aren’t available unless you link to a hosting site.
Through a payment processing service, you can bundle the shopping cart with transaction capability. In some cases, you are given a line of code to add to the site’s HTML. In other situations, the customer is taken to the processing site to complete the transaction.
It Grows With Your Business
A payment processing service isn’t a finite organization. They have the tools available to grow with your company. In fact, most of the time they want to work with you and plan potential expansion. Thus, a blueprint is worked out at the time you work out your initial agreement.
The benefits of payment processing mentioned above only work if you find the right company. You can’t select the first one you see. Frankly, you don’t know about their payment options or their security.
Needless to say, extensive research is required. After all, you want to protect your customer’s transactions as well as your funds. You don’t want to join a firm known for poor customer service and security.
Overall, don’t be afraid to ask tough questions to a payment processing firm. Let them know your current state and your prospects for growth. Even if they provide a plan that fits your needs, don’t sign anything until you speak to other customers that work with them. All of this information gives you a solid footing on how to proceed.
