Online Payment Services: How to Pick the Best
Follow these eight tips to pick the best online payment service for your business:
Table of Contents
- Make Sure They Serve Diverse Industries
- Find the Most Secure Service
- Look for a Hassle-Free Onboarding Process
- Seek Multiple Payment Methods
- Check Service Compatibility
- Learn About Their Settlement Period
- Assess Their Customer Support
- Get Affordable Rates
So you’ve finally decided that your business needs an online presence? Better late than never! While having an online presence was important before COVID, it has become a necessity for running a viable business in a post-pandemic world. After selecting an ecommerce platform and designing your website, now comes the hard choices. How are you going to accept payments from online customers?
If you’re thinking of money orders and mail-in paper checks, your business will not survive for long. More than 75% of Americans prefer to pay with electronic payment methods. Providing online payment services is essential to meet the demands of modern consumers and run a successful business. Now that you know the importance of processing online payments, it’s time to choose the right online payment service provider.
In this post, SeamlessChex offers eight tips to help you pick the right online payment processor.
Use the guide below to choose the best payment company for your business:
The first step in choosing the right payment provider is to discover what industries they serve. In the eyes of online payment services, all businesses are not created equal. If you sell high-value goods/services, handle high-volume transactions, or run a high-risk business, most payment companies ⏤ including PayPal and Stripe ⏤ will refuse to work with you.
Before evaluating all other factors, make sure the payment provider can serve a wide range of industries. This is an important point to keep in mind as it impacts your merchant account and influences business success. Low- and high-risk online payment services like SeamlessChex specialize in preventing merchant account termination to help you run a long-lasting business.
Finding a reliable online payment service provider should be your highest priority. Although most payment companies claim to offer secure solutions, data theft and payment fraud are hitting record highs. Online credit card fraud cost the United States $11 billion in 2020. Cyberattacks and fraudulent transactions not only damage your reputation but can also bankrupt businesses.
So how can you find the safest online payment service? To get the most reliable service, look for a provider that employs not one but multiple security solutions. SeamlessChex complies with PCI DSS standards, verifies bank account ownership, offers signature capture technology, and provides cutting-edge fraud prevention tools to ensure highly secure online transactions.
After finding a flexible and secure online payment service provider, learn about their sign-up and onboarding process. Many online payment companies have frustrating documentation requirements and lengthy underwriting procedures. These unproductive practices can take weeks to complete, wasting your time and delaying access to essential financial services.
If you want to avoid long wait times, look for online payment services that have a hassle-free onboarding process. Some companies have very efficient sign-up procedures which can help you process online payments in no time. SeamlessChex has a quick and simple application process, offering all legal US businesses same-day approval to save you time and money.
As you search for the best online payment service provider, you’re probably thinking of a credit card processor. Although a popular online payment method, keep in mind that almost 30% of Americans still don’t have a credit card. For those that do have a credit card, one in three fear using theirs online due to hacking concerns and other cybersecurity threats.
Setting up multiple payments on your website allows you to serve more customers. If you want to boost your sales opportunities, partner with an online payment service that offers more than just credit card processing. Along with processing credit cards, SeamlessChex also provides ACH, eCheck, and mobile payment options to maximize your reach.
From shopping cart platforms to accounting software, you’re probably running dozens of applications to improve business efficiency. It’s important for a payment platform to seamlessly integrate with your existing systems so you can run an efficient business. Software integration problems can slow down payment processing and negatively impact customer experience.
To ensure an optimized checkout process, analyze the online payment service to see if it’s compatible with your business applications. All you need to do is check whether the online payment service provider offers API integration. APIs help all your software to connect easily with one another, creating a seamless business ecosystem and great customer experience.
When a customer makes a payment, it’s the processor ⏤ not you ⏤ that receives the money. Many payment providers hold onto that money from days to weeks before depositing the funds into your merchant account. If you have cash flow issues, prolonged payment holds can make it difficult for you to meet your business’s financial obligations.
Learning about an online payment service’s settlement period is important to help you avoid business disruption. To pick the best payment provider, partner with a company that gives you quick access to your funds. SeamlessChex provides fast, next-day deposits into your merchant account to help you operate a smooth-running business.
Like all other software systems, payment gateways are vulnerable to technical glitches and service outages. A small change to the settings or a minor misconfiguration can cause payment gateway failure. Having access to round-the-clock technical support is crucial to reduce failed transactions and lost revenue.
On your search for the best online payment service, assess the quality and level of their customer support. When faced with a technical glitch, do they expect you to resolve the issue yourself, or provide live technical assistance to help you fix the problem? Choose an online payment service provider that offers 24/7 customer support via multiple channels to minimize business downtime.
Online payments are fast, convenient, and expand your business reach. These benefits, however, come with a downside. Accepting online payments from customers can be costly. Many payment providers will charge you up to 4% of the total transaction value for accepting credit cards. These exorbitant fees eat into your profits and can impede business growth.
And last but no less important than previous tips, look for an online payment service that offers affordable rates to help you save more money. Keeping operating costs down can help you run a thriving business under any economic condition. SeamlessChex will provide you with a free cost savings analysis and are able to show a savings off your current rates 99% of the time. In addition to credit card processing, Seamless Chex provides eCheck and ACH payment solutions which costs up to 90% less than cards.
Choose SeamlessChex as Your Payment Provider
Establishing an online presence is a necessity in today’s digital economy. To accept money from digital shoppers, you must partner with an online payment service provider. With instant approval, state-of-the-art security, and low processing fees, SeamlessChex provides the best online payment service you can find. Sign up now and start getting paid today.