Payment gateways: are you ready for new ways to pay?
Paying for things used to be easy in the old days. You paid by cash, or by cheque or with your card. And that was pretty much it unless you were in high finance and dealt in bankers’ drafts!
But as technology has progressed, more and more ways of paying have appeared. And you need to be ready for them if you’re going to get paid on time.
Payment gateways
Payment methods have gone through quite a change in recent years. And at the core of most of these changes is the need for convenience:
- Convenience in how you pay,
- Convenience in how you get paid, and
- Convenience in how quickly and easily transactions can take place.
PayPal was one of the first payment gateways on the block. It gives people a way to pay for those late-night online shopping binges that’s fast and efficient and keeps their bank details safe and secure (always an important consideration when there’s nasty hackers out there looking for easy prey).
ApplePay is the new kid on the block, but with the weight (and hefty marketing budget) of Apple behind it.
The aim is to help consumers ditch their big, fat wallets and to use their phone (or iPhones specifically) to pay for goods and services. Most (but not all) of the main UK banks are signed up to ApplePay, so it’s got a LOT of support to push it as the payment option of choice.
And Apple’s not alone in this market. There’s also Android Pay, using Google Wallet, and Barclaycard bPay, amongst others (which explains why you won’t see Barclays’ logo on the Apple ads).
Payment hardware
‘Virtual wallets’ are all about marrying software and apps with hardware and technology. And it seems to be taking off worldwide as the technology gets rolled out. iPhone payments made up 10% of all global online transactions in recent stats, and this was before ApplePay was even rolled out in the UK!
The days of real cash may be numbered (so it might be best to bank that stash of twenties you’ve got in a biscuit tin under the bed, eh)
Over time, the combination of software and hardware is likely to replace cash completely. Near field communications (NFC) chips are in all kinds of things now, from contactless debit cards to iPhones and other smartphones…even smartwatches!
So, at some point very soon, one of your clients is going to want to swipe their watch and pay their outstanding invoice (it’ll be one of the really cool, bearded ones, we can guarantee that).
And if you’re not ready for that, it’s going to take you longer to get paid…which is always bad news.
Make it easy to pay you
The easier you make it to accept payment, the quicker you’ll get paid.
And the quicker you get paid, the healthier your cash flow will look. With more cash in the bank at the right time, you’ve got the wonga you need to do what you want with the agency.
So, getting yourself on the ball with the latest payment tech is a very sound move if you want to make your payment processes as efficient as possible.
Get with the tech
So, if you don’t know your ApplePay from your apple crumble (mmmm, crumble), now’s the time to get up to speed. Being prepared for change and flexing to meet that change is what running a business is all about.
Want to talk to us about incorporating payment gateways and payment apps into your Xero system? Get in touch to find out more about ApplePay, virtual wallets and contactless payment.
And while you’re about it, why not put your name down for the Apple Car too…coming in 2019! (we’re not even joking…check out the concept drawings!)
