In this blog, we will look at several features that are important when selecting a payment system for small businesses. With numerous payment platforms available to small businesses, we’ll discuss how certain attributes and functionality can make a payment system more efficient and attractive to customers.
Let’s take a look below.
Payment System for Small Businesses: Start with User Experience
Although the list in this blog isn’t exactly in order of importance, it’s fitting that user experience is at the top of the list. That’s because the design of an efficient payment platform, one that end-users will embrace, should begin with a focus on the end-user and the user experience.
Ultimately, the development of an optimal payment system should involve users and merchants. There should be input from both end-users and merchants. This is how you discover what both parties want and need. And sometimes, through testing, you will discover what both parties thought they wanted or needed wasn’t exactly the case.
PaymentVision’s surveys and studies with end-users and merchants have shown that speed and security are top concerns along with ease-of-use.
In short, the end-users like a fast, secure, and simplified payment experience. The end-user appreciates being able to quickly achieve a task – simplified payment flows and intuitively designed navigation.
Crucial Payment System Features that Impact User Experience
- Platform messaging – The messaging in a payment platform can significantly impact user experience. Using language and terminology that resonates with the end-user is vital.
- Prefilled customer data fields – Prefilling customer data fields is a feature that can reduce the effort needed for a consumer to complete a task.
- Navigation – Simplified navigation has been shown to help end-users find what they are looking for and complete desired tasks faster.
- Mobile-first design – More and more consumers are researching, browsing, and completing financial transactions on their smartphones. OuterBox states that 79% of smartphone users have made a purchase online with their mobile devices in the past 6 months.
- ADA compliance – Designing a payment platform that is ADA compliant is not only the right thing to do but not doing so can lead to legal issues.
- Multilingual support – Payment platforms that offer multilingual functionality have the capability of reaching new customers and serving niche markets.
- Recurring payment functionality – Also known as “automated payments,” recurring payment functionality can increase on-time payments and make payment plans effortless for consumers.
- Payment flow – Simplified payment flows can increase payment completion rates.
- Speed and Security – Studies have shown that both speed and security are major concerns for both merchants and consumers when using a payment platform.
Selecting a Payment System for Small Business that is Secure
As mentioned above, security was a major concern for both merchants and end-users in our surveys. And this makes sense when you consider today’s issues with hacking, ransomware, and phishing emails.
That’s why we suggest that payment systems used by small businesses incorporate features such as two-factor authentication (2FA) or PCI-DSS Level 1 certification and hosted tokenization. Merchants and consumers both need to know that financial data and transactions are secure.
Recurring Payment Functionality
Automated payments, or recurring payment functionality, is something that can be so useful in a small business payment system.
Recurring payments can lead to more on-time payments. And automated payments work great as they allow customers to define a payment amount and payment date for making a payment with a credit card, debit card, ACH, or HSA payment account.
Recurring payments work especially well for collections organizations, dental practices, chiropractic offices, rent-to-own (RTO) businesses, and other business types that collect payments monthly or bi-weekly.
Also, it’s worth mentioning that allowing customers to make payments through automated payments can reduce the strain on call centers and ultimately save companies money.
ADA Compliance and Payment Systems for Small Business
Businesses should also utilize ADA-compliant payment systems. Not only is it the ethical thing to do, but not doing so can be costly. Companies such as Winn-Dixie, Carnival Cruise Lines, and HR Block have all faced legal issues because of ADA compliance matters.
Multilingual Support
Although this feature isn’t always a part of every payment platform for business, it’s very much a nice one to have. And it would make sense as 43 million people, or 13% of the U.S. population, speak Spanish as a first language.
PaymentVision’s PayWeb360 comes ready to serve Hispanic customers right out of the box and will also support other languages as well.
Payment Systems for Small Businesses: A Recap
When selecting a payment system for your small business, it’s important to thoroughly understand what your current customers and potential customers need based on studies, research, and surveys.
Ultimately, an optimal payment platform for small businesses will incorporate numerous features that make the payment experience easier for the end-user. This will often lead to more payments made on time.
Features such as prefill-data fields, recurring payment functionality, mobile-first design, and messaging can all be key in reducing end-user friction points.
If you want to know more about how PaymentVision can help your business significantly improve the payment experience for its customers, fill out the form below to request more information. We’d love to schedule a time to talk.
