As a business owner or freelancer you are always looking for more and better ways to get paid. This is even more true when you sell your products and services online. You may have setup shop online, but sourcing a payment gateway that suits your billing and business culture may be a bit difficult.
Online orders can be paid through several other payment methods. Join me as I take a look at what payment methods are available to the small business owner and suggest easy to follow methods of identifying which payment method would suit your businesses' style best.
Location, location, location
Ask yourself if most of your clients are based in your own country or do the majority of your sales come from customers that are outside of your country. Whether you use a geographically general or specific payment gateway is up to where the most of your customers stays. If most of your clients are from your country you can use a local payment gateway. If most of your business is done with international customers you need to get a gateway that allows this.
Most payment gateways have certain currencies they support. What currency will your clients be paying you in? Find out which currencies these are and always choose a payment gateway that supports the currencies your customers would want to pay in.
Instant versus scheduled payment
Another critical factor to establish is what types of payment you will be collecting and on what term. Will your customers be making once-off or recurring payments?
If your clients need to make once-off payments you can look at services that provide your clients with the ability to make immediate, secure credit card payments. You can also look at a payment gateway like PayPal that provides instant secure payments between businesses who have an account with them.
Let's say that the majority of your customers will need to pay on a recurring term for the products or services you provide. For example; a fortnightly payment for the gardening maintenance services your company provides. This means you will need to look at a payment gateway that allows the submission of recurring direct debits to credit cards and bank accounts. Make sure you use a service that supports collection in the currency your customers have access to.
Overall service & fees
After you have narrowed down what kind of payments you require to collect and in what currency you can use the following criteria to determine which of the payment gateways that remain will best for your business:
- Online transactions cost money, to save as much as you can shop around for the gateway that charges you the least in transaction fees. Saving few cents on each transaction can save you thousands over time.
- Reporting: Does the gateway provide adequate information for easy account reconciliation? Do they inform you of bounced payments and securely store client payment information.
- Merchant account: Do you possess a merchant account at a financial institution? If not, some gateways act as your merchant account. Find out what kind of bank accounts you will require to withdraw funds from or use a specific payment gateway before signing up.
- Safety and security regulations in the payment gateway industry are there to protect you. Always follow up with you local regulatory authority to make sure the payment gateway you want to use is a member and complies with their laws.
Online orders can be paid through several other payment methods. Join me as I take a look at what payment methods are available to the small business owner and suggest easy to follow methods of identifying which payment method would suit your businesses' style best.
Location, location, location
Ask yourself if most of your clients are based in your own country or do the majority of your sales come from customers that are outside of your country. Whether you use a geographically general or specific payment gateway is up to where the most of your customers stays. If most of your clients are from your country you can use a local payment gateway. If most of your business is done with international customers you need to get a gateway that allows this.
Most payment gateways have certain currencies they support. What currency will your clients be paying you in? Find out which currencies these are and always choose a payment gateway that supports the currencies your customers would want to pay in.
Instant versus scheduled payment
Another critical factor to establish is what types of payment you will be collecting and on what term. Will your customers be making once-off or recurring payments?
If your clients need to make once-off payments you can look at services that provide your clients with the ability to make immediate, secure credit card payments. You can also look at a payment gateway like PayPal that provides instant secure payments between businesses who have an account with them.
Let's say that the majority of your customers will need to pay on a recurring term for the products or services you provide. For example; a fortnightly payment for the gardening maintenance services your company provides. This means you will need to look at a payment gateway that allows the submission of recurring direct debits to credit cards and bank accounts. Make sure you use a service that supports collection in the currency your customers have access to.
Overall service & fees
After you have narrowed down what kind of payments you require to collect and in what currency you can use the following criteria to determine which of the payment gateways that remain will best for your business:
- Online transactions cost money, to save as much as you can shop around for the gateway that charges you the least in transaction fees. Saving few cents on each transaction can save you thousands over time.
- Reporting: Does the gateway provide adequate information for easy account reconciliation? Do they inform you of bounced payments and securely store client payment information.
- Merchant account: Do you possess a merchant account at a financial institution? If not, some gateways act as your merchant account. Find out what kind of bank accounts you will require to withdraw funds from or use a specific payment gateway before signing up.
- Safety and security regulations in the payment gateway industry are there to protect you. Always follow up with you local regulatory authority to make sure the payment gateway you want to use is a member and complies with their laws.
About the Author:
Bill Bapsnill has been in the online billing industry for many decades. He recommends that you do your recurring invoicing via a billing system.
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