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Although it might seem like a basic service, your payment solution can make or break your business. A poor checkout experience can lead to a low conversion rate, regardless of the time and money you put into your products, website, and branding.
So, what should you look for in a payment solution? Whether you’re starting a new business or have been in operation for years, it can be hard to know which factors matter most. This article will walk you through the top elements to consider so you can make the best choice for your business.
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What Is a Payment Service Provider?
Payment service providers allow your business to accept payments via a variety of payment methods, including credit cards, debit cards, digital wallets, bank transfers, and more. Payment service providers are sometimes also called merchant service providers.
To accept payments, you’ll need a full payment infrastructure, which includes a payment gateway, merchant account, and payment processing services. A payment service provider delivers and manages all of these elements, so you can start accepting payments right away. No need to sign up for all of these services separately.
In simple terms, a payment service provider makes sure that you can complete transactions. They’re involved from the moment a customer chooses to enter their card details and initiates a sale to when you receive the payment.
What Are the Benefits of Working with a Payment Service Provider?
Payment service providers make it easy for you to accept multiple payment methods. The provider allows you to pick and choose which methods you want to accept. Then, the provider integrates those methods, like credit cards, debit cards, and digital wallets, with your business. You don’t have to do any of the technical work on your own.
You also get the assurance of secure transactions when working with a payment service provider. Each company is different, but some providers tokenize credit card details in transit so that the system never stores any private payment information.
They support other security features, as well, like two-factor authentication, and comply with industry standards to ensure safe transactions. Payment service providers will only initiate a transfer of funds once they’ve verified a customer’s card details and checked that there are sufficient funds in their account. This can help your business avoid any fraud.
Payment service providers will provide you with the tools to bill your customers. You can set up a checkout page on your website or send invoices directly to your customers via your payment solution. Depending on your provider, you may be able to manually enter payment information into the system or charge them in person by taking a physical form of payment, like a card or cash.
What to Look For in a Payment Solution for Your Business
1. Ease of Set Up
Your business already operates by using a variety of technology and tools, like a web host and content management system. Your payment solution should easily integrate with your existing setup.
If you’re just starting out, you’ll want a strong payment solution with a prebuilt checkout page you can customize without coding experience. If you already have a website, the payment solution should offer the option to use code to embed hosted payment fields into your site or app via robust APIs.
Regardless of which option you choose, the payment solution should make getting set up simple and straightforward.
2. A Variety of Payment Methods
Customers want to have options in terms of payment methods. While credit and debit cards still account for close to half of all payments, many people now use alternative payment methods, like digital wallets, buy-now, pay-later options, and bank transfers. If you don’t offer enough payment methods, you could lose sales.
Your payment service provider should make it easy to accept all kinds of payment methods. The provider should offer a wide selection of payment methods and allow you to easily add them to your checkout process, whether through your website or through payment links.
3. Security Features
Fraudulent transactions can impact both the customer and your business. As a business owner, it’s your job to put systems in place to protect private information. You’ve likely already taken steps to accomplish this, like putting a firewall in place.
Your payment service provider can also offer some protections, so you don’t have to take care of payment security yourself. A strong solution should have security measures in place, including PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) compliance.
Additionally, it should tokenize or encrypt payment details so that if a hacker did get in, they couldn’t access payment details.
A solution with strong security measures will also support 3DS2 (3D Secure 2.0). This adds another layer of authentication. If a customer makes a purchase that meets certain criteria set by the credit card companies, like transaction size or location, the system will ask them to confirm their identity via a code sent to their phone or email.
4. Global Network and Currencies
One of the many benefits of selling your products or services online is that you can connect with customers all around the world. That means unlimited sales potential. However, you’ll need to make sure your payment solution allows you to sell worldwide.
Your payment solution must enable cross-border transactions with a global payment network. Plus, it will need to allow you to settle transactions with multiple currencies and handle foreign exchange rates. Some payment solutions can even help you minimize conversion costs and currency realization costs.
5. Transparent Fee Structure
Payment service providers usually have a tiered pricing structure or flat-rate, per-transaction fees. Flat-rate structures are typically best, as tiered pricing can often have hidden fees that arise when you go over your allotted transactions. With flat-rate fees, you know exactly what you’ll pay each month.
Your solution provider should allow you to easily track your usage. They should be transparent so that you never have a nasty surprise bill.
Why Choose Pay.com as Your Payment Service Provider?
Pay.com supports businesses of any size - no business is too big or too small to enjoy the benefits of our payment system. With developer-friendly APIs, you can easily embed our components into your website and start taking payments.
From there, you can add a variety of payment methods, including credit and debit cards, digital wallets, and ACH transfers, all with the click of a button. Plus, Pay.com offers global payment processing, so your sales potential is never limited.
Security is a top priority, which is why Pay.com has Level 1 PCI DSS compliance - the highest level. You can display the PCI DSS logo on your checkout page to let your customers know that you take their security seriously. Pay.com also supports 3DS2 and tokenizes all credit card details in transit.
Pay.com also provides your business with in-depth reports and insights. By using the intuitive Pay Dashboard, you can review analytics and make informed business decisions based on your unique data.
Click here to get started with Pay.com now!
The Bottom Line
Choosing the right payment solution can make all the difference in your business. There are many solutions to choose from and each offers slightly different capabilities, which can make it a difficult decision. Be sure to use the list above to ensure that your chosen payment solution has all the critical components to help your business grow.
In short, your payment service provider should easily integrate with your existing website, allow you to accept many payment methods, and provide secure transactions. It should allow you to sell across all borders and there should never be any confusion about your bill. Pay.com meets all of these criteria and more, making online payments easy and secure.
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