The Beginner’s Guide to Mobile Payments

Mobile payments are probably the most important payment method these days for both online and offline businesses. People nowadays prefer paying with their phones or … Read more

The post The Beginner’s Guide to Mobile Payments appeared first on Top Entrepreneurs Podcast | Enterprise Podcast Network.

Mobile payments are probably the most important payment method these days for both online and offline businesses. People nowadays prefer paying with their phones or watches. If you are not taking advantage of this payment method, you are missing out on a lot of sales. So, here’s a simple guide that shows you some of the basic things you need to know about mobile payments. 

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What is it?

Mobile payments are when you use a smartphone or another device like a tablet or a smartwatch to pay for goods or to accept sales via a mobile card reader. These payments might work via an app, SMS, or wallet. Some popular methods include Google Pay, Apple Pay, and Zelle. 

Benefits of mobile payments

Here are some benefits of mobile payments

Convenience

The biggest benefit of mobile payments is the convenience. Many people prefer this option when shopping in person. Everyone has a phone, and with a couple of clicks, they can pay you. People like this convenience as they don’t need to constantly depend on their wallet. If you don’t offer this payment, you might miss out on a lot of potential sales. 

Secure

Mobile payments are very secure because the devices that people pay through usually require some form of authentication to access them. It’s not like a card that someone could steal and use. To access the mobile payment option, people will need to first type in the device password or use facial recognition.

Popularity

People spend billions of dollars through mobile payments. Ignoring this payment option can lead to a loss in sales. Some people might visit a store without their wallet or cash and the only way to pay might be their phone. 

Ease

When people use the card, they usually need to type in their code, but with mobile payments, they just need to tap their phone. 

Types of mobile payments

There are so many types of mobile payment options. But here are three popular ones. 

SMS payments

SMS payments allow you to pay someone by sending an SMS to the phone you want to pay. They aren’t popular in developed countries like the USA, but are popular in countries like India. 

Point of Sale

You might be familiar with credit card readers (also known as POS or point of sale readers) that you typically see at stores that are usually connected to a computer or an electronic cash register. But what many people don’t know is that you get mobile versions of these, too, where you can connect the device to a phone or tablet and accept payments from anywhere on the go. Once you connect the device to your phone, people can pay you via their phone using an option like Apple Pay or with a card. 

Peer-to-peer payments

These are solutions like PayPal and Venmo that allow people to transfer money via a webpage or app. Some, like PayPal, allow you to even send money with some basic information like an email address.  

Mobile wallets

These are services like Google Pay, Samsung Pay, and Apple Pay, where you install the app on your mobile device, open an account, and connect your bank account, credit card, or debit card. If a store offers the option to pay with these wallets, you can simply open the app on your smartphone, smartwatch, or tablet, choose the type of payment you want to use (card/bank account), and the transaction will sail through just like it does when you tap a card. 

Choosing a mobile payment provider

As you can see, there are so many benefits to offering mobile payments. If you want to take advantage of this, the next step is to choose a mobile payment provider. This is usually offered as a feature by payment gateways and merchant account providers. 

Here are some things to look for while choosing a payment gateway or a merchant account provider that offers mobile payments…

Transaction fees: How much do they take for each transaction? Most merchant account providers will take a percentage of the fee + a fixed amount. This fee is usually more or less the same among different providers. But some offer a free option or a higher fee. You need to take this into consideration. 

Subscription fees: Most will be free, but some will have a subscription fee that offers some extra benefits. You need to check these out to see if they would benefit you. 

Readers: Does the company offer readers to help you accept payments? If they don’t offer devices, do they at least offer software that lets you accept payments? You need to look out for these. 

Integrations: Your merchant account provider needs to smoothly integrate into your workflow. So, make sure they offer free integrations that make it easy to plug everything into your tech stack. You might also want to check if the company makes it easy to integrate via the API or a tool like Zapier. This will make it easy to integrate it with tools it doesn’t directly connect to. A designer or developer can quickly set this up. 

Along with these features, you need to check out other things like customer reviews about the provider and various other ones that might be necessary for your business. Once you do that, you can pick a provider that best suits you. 

Be very meticulous while choosing a mobile payment solution, as changing one midway can take up a lot of time. Also, if you choose a bad service, it can hurt your ability to generate enough sales, which can negatively affect your revenue. 

The post The Beginner’s Guide to Mobile Payments appeared first on Top Entrepreneurs Podcast | Enterprise Podcast Network.