Digital Payments – The Benefits and Convenience

TABLE OF CONTENTS

    Key Takeaways


    • Digital Payments: Transactions done without cash or physical checks, typically using credit cards, debit cards, or mobile apps.
    • Process: Businesses require a merchant account. Payments are processed via a virtual terminal or online gateway and then deposited into the merchant’s bank account.
    • Benefits: These include increased efficiency, better customer service, reduced fraud, increased sales, improved cash flow, and enhanced security and privacy.
    • Extra Advantages: Convenience, ease of use, robust security, and better customer management, including easier dispute resolution and understanding of customer purchasing trends.

    Nowadays, technology makes the world go ’round. Convenient, dependable, and easy to use – it permeates every aspect of our lives – payments included. Cash is no longer king with the rise of the digital payment revolution. Check out this knowledgeable guide explaining digital payments, virtual processing, and the advantages and trends of boarding an online payment system.

    What are Digital Payments?

    Simply put, digital payments are any financial transaction where cash or a physical check isn’t exchanged. Both the merchant and customer agree to accept a virtual payment for the purchases of goods or services. Digital payments can happen via a variety of methods and utilized in a variety of industries – credit unions, collection agencies, and e-commerce stores all need the payment acceptance methoff. A credit or debit card is most commonly swiped at a physical terminal or entered online via an e-commerce site’s online shopping cart. If you’re looking to create a secure online payment form, check out our helpful article. Some pop-up businesses also flaunt mobile payment systems.

    Types of digital payments

    What are types of digital payments?

    There are many types of digital payments, but the most common are credit and debit card payments, as well as payments made through mobile apps.

    How Do Digital Payments Work?

    Whether low-risk or high-risk, all successful digital payments involve two parties – the merchant and the customer. To process a digital payment, a business must have a merchant account. A merchant’s account credentials plug into a virtual terminal or online payment gateway. It’s from this gateway that all the magic happens. Whether swiped or manually keyed, a customer’s authorized digital payment is processed through the terminal to the card issuer, where a payment confirmation is received if sufficient funds are available. From there, transactions are batched out daily and processed for the ultimate deposit into the merchant’s bank account.

    Digital Payments Benefits

    Top 10 Advantages of Digital Payments

    1.  Increased Efficiency: With digital payments, businesses can make and receive payments quickly and easily. This can help to reduce accounting and administrative costs, as well as improve overall efficiency.
    2. Improved Customer Service: Digital payments can help businesses to provide a better customer experience by offering more convenient and faster payment options. This can lead to improved customer satisfaction and loyalty.
    3. Reduced Risk of Fraud: Digital payments can help to reduce the risk of fraud by providing businesses with more secure and efficient payment options. This can help to save businesses money and protect their reputation.
    4. Increased Sales: Digital payments can help businesses to increase sales by providing customers with more convenient payment options. This can lead to increased customer satisfaction and loyalty.
    5. Improved Cash Flow: Digital payments can help businesses to improve their cash flow by providing more efficient and convenient payment options. This can lead to increased financial stability and growth.
    6. Greater Security: Digital payments can provide businesses with greater security by offering more secure payment options. This can help to protect businesses from fraud and financial losses.
    7. Enhanced Privacy: Digital payments can help businesses to enhance customer privacy by offering more secure and efficient payment options. This can lead to increased customer satisfaction and loyalty.
    8. Increased Mobility: Digital payments can help businesses to increase their mobility by providing more convenient payment options. This can lead to increased customer satisfaction and loyalty.
    9. Increased Accessibility: Digital payments can help businesses to increase their accessibility by providing more convenient payment options. This can lead to increased customer satisfaction and loyalty.
    10. Enhanced Customer Experience: Digital payments can help businesses to enhance the customer experience by offering more convenient and efficient payment options. This can lead to increased customer satisfaction and loyalty.

    Other Benefits of a Digital Payment System

    Convenience

    Solely accepting cash or paper checks means more work for you as a business owner. You must physically deposit checks or cash into your bank account so funds are available to pay bills, approve payroll, or acquire essential company assets. Similarly, you must also have a physical presence for customers to purchase goods or services. With digital payment acceptance, you can streamline your business processes and spend more time growing your business opportunities.

    Ease of Use

    Also, online processing systems allow merchants to offer different payment types.  Accept all the major card brands – Visa, Mastercard, Discover, American Express – electronic checks or ACH payments. As a medical establishment, you can even process HSA/FSA payments. You can also choose to accept debit card payments solely. The choice of what payment types to take can be discussed with your payment processor. Be sure to work with a dependable and comprehensive provider to build the best payment solution for your business.

    Security

    Digital payments offer secure environments where data theft is scarce. The adoption of PCI Compliance is critical for protecting your customer’s payment data and avoiding credit card fraud. Your merchant provider should also offer you standard fraud tools such as AVS response, BIN blocker, duplicate detection, or zip code verifier, to name a few.

    Customer Management

    This is a significant benefit for merchants. With a digital payment system, you can easily observe customer purchasing trends and easily manage their customer profiles. You can also instantly submit a refund request should there be a dispute. This keeps chargebacks low, and the client experience high.

    Ready to Experience a Better Way?

    In conclusion, if you’re ready to board a digital payment processing system, your first step is to choose a reliable merchant provider. For a decade, Payment Savvy has created secure, innovative, and reliable all-in-dome payment solutions for our clients. We work within several industries, no matter the size of your business. Reach out to us today to start experiencing a better and more profitable payment acceptance program.

    As our resident “numbers guy”, Tracy is responsible for Payment Savvy’s financial planning, analysis and projections. With 20 years of accounting experience under his belt with various CPA and high technology firms, we look to him to ensure our fiscal future stays in the black. He is a highly regarded member of our team and we appreciate his hands-on approach and diligent attention to detail.  With Tracy we are able to apply innovative, practical and outcome driven financial strategies to take Payment Savvy to the next level.

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