Collecting Payments: A Simple Guide to Small Business Payment Options

Online shopping is becoming popular, as 50 percent of consumers now shop at home with their smartphones.

As an informed entrepreneur, you should take advantage of the growing online shoppers by providing an effective payment option. If you have reliable payment processing solutions, customers will find your business more convenient, and they might become loyal to you.

This guide discusses the best small business payment options which you may choose for your customers. These solutions are all great, but they have their unique features, pros, and cons.

Read them so that you can choose the most applicable payment processor for your business.

Consider Email Invoicing

Did you know that you can streamline your emails to receive payments? Email invoicing is an effective and convenient payment method for small businesses.

As a business, you only need to send the invoice to your customers through your email. The customer then clicks on the invoice and makes a payment. When they pay, the system marks the invoice as paid, and you can then release the goods or service.

Email invoicing is free, and it’s, therefore, the best option for businesses that want to evade the costly transaction costs.

Allow Credit and Debit Cards

The first important step for accepting online payments is to accept credit and debit cards. Credit card usage has been steadily increasing over the years, and now, many people are credit cardholders.

The popular credit cards which you may accept for your business include American Express, MasterCard, Discover, Visa, and many more.

Visa is the commonly used credit card globally, with a yearly credit volume of $2 trillion and above. You may use Visa alone or combine it with the other credit cards to increase your payment plans and create better integrated payment solutions for your loyal clients.

Use PayPal

PayPal is one of the oldest and reliable online processors. It does not only work well for individuals, but for small businesses that want secure online payment.

Before using it, you should select the financial cards which you wish to add to the account. You can link your credit cards or bank accounts. 

In addition to receiving payments for your services, you may also send money to other people.

The money you receive sits on your account for as long as you wish without any extra charges. Note that a small fee applies to the transactions you make. Before you use it, understand the fee and notify your clients about it.

Use Amazon Payment

Amazon Pay service allows businesses to receive payments associated with their Amazon accounts. If you sell your products on Amazon, you can sign up for their payment plan to receive payments, online donations, and so on. 

You can easily integrate this payment plan to your existing apps or website once you read the terms and conditions. This payment plan is instant, meaning that you receive the cash immediately when the customer deposits. 

Amazon Pay is a free service provided that you have an amazon account. There are no currency conversion fees, membership fees, or foreign transaction costs. Its convenience and affordability make it one of the leading online payment processors in the world.

Try Apple Pay

Apple pay is another incredible payment method for Apple users. It allows entrepreneurs to send and receive money instantly, provided that they are using an Apple device.

If you already accept credit and debit cards, you will only need to download the Apple Pay app and start processing the payments. Apple transactions are fast and secure because the app uses the touch ID feature for the payment confirmations.

After receiving the money, you can move it to your bank or credit cards and withdraw.

Unlike most payment processors, Apple Pay does not have a limit to the amount you can transact per day.

Use Google Pay

Google Pay is another simple and safe payment solution for small businesses. You can use it to transact from Google account, your website, app, browsers, etc.

Google Pay is an app, and this means that you must download it first. After that, you can sign up and list the payment plan which your business accepts. There is no card limit, but you must sign up for a screen lock and two-factor authentication to protect your financial transactions.

Currently, Google Pay is available in 30 countries, and this means that your customers from many parts of the world can find this payment plan convenient.

Try eWallet

eWallet is a digital payment processor for online goods and services. It is currently the most preferred payment processor for online shoppers. In 2018 alone, 36% of online shoppers used this method to pay for goods and services.

As the name implies, the eWallet acts like the traditional wallet. In it, you can store your driving license, business cards, and other vital documents. 

Note that eWallet is an app that you must download to your smartphone first. After that, you should sign up and link your financial credentials, such as bank accounts.

Stripe

Stripe is a well-designed payment processor with flexible payment options. Its goal is to minimize the online payment fraud cases, and that’s why it integrates the best user authentication tactics to provide maximum payment security.

Like the other processors, you must sign up first before you use it. After that, you can link your credit and debit cards. 

Besides cash, you may also receive Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies using your stripe account.

You can use Stripe on your smartphone, desktop, or any other digital device. Currently, the processor accepts more than 100 different currencies and is available in many countries worldwide.

A small fee applies to the transaction, but it’s worth the convenience and safety you enjoy by using this processor.

Choose the Best Small Business Payment Options

You may not use all the above discussed small business payment options for your firm. However, you can review each and choose the best for your firm.

Some of the things you should check before signing up include the transaction fee, reputation of the firm, and the customer service. 

 

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