Online Payment Options to Create a Friendly User Experience

So you are re-designing your website and have decided to take the plunge and accept online payments for the goods or services that you sell. Aside from going through the motions of setting up your online e-Commerce facilities, you also need to give some thought to what options you are going to offer when it comes to accepting payments online. Your web developer will likely ask you what payment options you would like to offer your customers. Here are some options:

1. Credit Card (Merchant Facility and Payment Gateway)

A merchant facility provides the means to accept credit and debit card payments and is generally provided by the banks. The banks usually charge an initial set-up fee for the facility, such as a fixed monthly access fee (usually about $20) and a Merchant service fee as a percentage of the transaction value. It is a competitive space so shop around the banks to get a good deal.

A payment gateway facilitates online payments by providing the software to securely pass credit card information from the customer to the merchant and process the transaction on behalf of the merchant. The payment gateway will return a message as to whether the transaction was successful or not. This allows payments to be instantaneous which means that merchants can dispatch goods right away to the purchaser.

2. Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT)

This involves providing your bank account details to the customer. The customer can then log into their internet banking and process a payment using a reference number provided by you as part of the check-out process. This payment method is not usually instantaneous and the merchant normally does not receive confirmation of payment until they check their bank account the following day.

3. Direct Debit

This process involves a customer providing their bank account details and giving the merchant authority to deduct the amount owing from the customer’s bank account. This method is more common for recurring transactions at the same dollar value such as monthly subscriptions.

Before being able to provide this payment method, the merchant is required to set up a Direct Debit Facility with their bank which involves completing an application. The merchant would normally upload a file to their bank advising which accounts to debit. As per the EFT, it is not usually until the following day that the merchant receives confirmation that the debit has been successful. Direct Debits are generally easier to process due to less manual handling, and being a bank-to-bank transaction, there are fewer fees involved.

4. BPAY

Once again this involves setting up a facility with your bank. When a customer selects the BPay option as part of the check-out process, they are provided with a Biller Code and Reference No. The customer will then need to login to their internet banking to complete the payment. The merchant will normally receive notification of the payment into their bank account on the following day. BPay is great for very large organisations handling a large flow of transactions.

5. PayPal

PayPal is a third party payment processor. It does not require the merchant to set-up a merchant facility and so set-up is fast and less complicated. Set-up fees are less than credit card merchant facilities; however the recurring costs are generally more expensive. To pay by PayPal, the customer can complete payment using their PayPal account. Payment is instantaneous so the merchant is notified when a payment has been completed.

It is recommended to provide as many payment options as possible to your customers so they can choose a method that suits. Remember, your website should be designed to be as user-friendly as possible. If you can do this, your customers’ are going to be much more comfortable with departing with their cash.

If you’re looking at refreshing your website then SponsoredLinX will have the right, unique and tailored solution to suit your business needs. Give them a call today on 1300 859 600.