Can Our Customers Pay Us with a Link?

Accept Credit Cards and ACH Payments via a “Payment Link” Instead of over the Phone

A common request we hear from businesses  is to  have a “link” or button where customers can securely pay without having to call in their credit cards. The great news is that there are many “out of the box” solutions available today that allow businesses of all sizes to accept payments electronically and in a more secure way that is better for themselves and their customers!

Why You, and Your Customers Will Love the Ability to Pay with a Link

If you don’t have the option to see your customer face to face it presents several challenges when it comes to getting paid. Fraud becomes more of a threat when you cannot verify an ID or signature with a credit card and accept payments on a website, through the mail, or over the phone. Moreover, for many merchants it can be a challenge just to get in contact with the person who is responsible for payment. 

Customers love the ability to pay via a secure link because they often pay bills on their own schedule. With more and more people working flexible hours from home, the ability to let your customers pay via a link in an email or on a website at 11PM after the kids are asleep makes their life a little easier. Many solutions like CardConnect’s Hosted Payment Page and Paycove allow customers to choose whether to pay via Credit Card or ACH. Those options can be customized to help incentivize clients to pay via ACH or eCheck, which have substantially fewer fees. Businesses love these solutions because they help them get paid quicker, with far less effort and at a lower cost!

Secure Links for Payment can Help Reduce PCI DSS Scope

Another way to reduce or eliminate PCI scope is to use a PCI compliant payment link and send it to your customers to complete the transaction. Having customers pay via a secure link instead of over the phone or through the mail helps reduce liability and threats from hackers, making payments more secure for you and your customers.

When you take a payment over the phone, it can bring not only the device you use to take that payment, but your entire office and network into PCI DSS Scope. In order to be PCI compliant, all devices that are used to accept payments, including a keyboard if you use your computer to “key-in” a credit card, must be segmented on your network and follow strict guidelines and scans. Another solution to take cards over the phone is a verified Point-to-Point Encryption (P2PE) pan pad, key-pad or device.

The Longer You Stay The More You Pay

Fee Increases for Long Time Customers are Standard in Credit Card Processing

Just like insurers, cable providers and other companies with recurring charges, if you stick with the same payment processing or merchant services company your rates will likely go up every year. The pricing is convoluted and confusing, changing processors is a pain and they are betting that you will not notice the increase or switch providers.

Routine Rate Hikes

Team Merchant received an email from one of our processing partners the other day: “The monthly fees to your clients will be increased by $30/month, if you would like to opt any of your clients out, let us know.” This would allow a sentence to be hidden at the end of our client’s statements notifying them of this fee increase. You know, that paragraph of legal jargon that everybody reads so carefully?

I Bet if They Increase Your Rates You Still Won’t Switch.

What changed that the processing costs more this month? Nothing was new or different for our clients. It was not harder to process payments, there are no new regulations or infrastructure changes that would drive the costs up. The only thing that changed was how long the customers had been customers. In the payments industry customer loyalty is often penalized instead of being rewarded.

But how can that be? How can credit card and ACH processing rates increase for loyal customers? It is simple - they’re betting that you won’t even notice it., Or if you do, that you will accept the fee increase, rather than put in the effort to switch. Changing merchant services provider is a hassle. It takes time. The industry is ripe with hidden fees, bait-and-switches, and unfulfilled promises. Even if someone offers you a better price, how can you know it’s actually better? Further, if your solution is working, why fix something that isn’t broken?

Finding an honest expert or a payment gateway consultant that can make sense of everything is a real challenge. That’s why Team Merchant has created a different model. Think of Team Merchant as a fiduciary for the payment world. We review your rates and fees with you every year. We compare your current costs to our original quote to prove we deliver on our promises.