How to set up online business payments?

Looking to set up an online business payment method for your growing business? While setting up an online payment system, you need to ensure that your online store has an inbuilt online payment system as it is how you’ll accept your payments from the customers.

Your customers would expect the online payments to be secure, convenient, and quick. For ensuring that your process runs smoothly, a robust payment gateway for your business is a must.

ClearOne, invoicing and payment collections app, helps you to send invoices having QR codes/payment links for quickly collecting payments. You can also check the payment status on the ClearOne app within seconds! So, hop on to ClearOne now and fastrack your collections on the go!

Meaning of online business payment?

Online payment allows customers to make purchases and pay invoices quickly from their devices around the clock. The online business payment is made via a payment form which also collects crucial information, such as the customer’s email and contact numbers at the time of payment. Some of the payment forms even enable you to store the credit card information of your customers.

Why to accept payments online?

The advantages of accepting payments online are numerous – let’s go over a few.

Instant payment: Online payments are much faster than traditional payments modes, viz. cash and cheques. With online payments, you aren’t restricted to the constraints of time and location. You can make payments securely and quickly anytime and from anywhere with just a few clicks.

Global audience – Perhaps the main appeal to accepting online payments is that your business is open to the whole world. As the location is no more a constraint with digital payments, you can expand your reach to global, eager audiences.

Cost-effective – In contrast to traditional payment setups, where the customer visits the store and makes the payment, online payments take place in an automated environment which translates into reduced costs.

Secure payments – Accepting payments online also comes with reduced financial risks for you, by comparison to the classic method, where you need to verify the genuineness of every cash payment.

How does the online payment system work?

• The customer enters his payment information into the payment form at the checkout.
• The payment gateway sends the data securely to the payment processing company, sending that data to the card scheme viz. Visa, Matercard or Rupay.
• The card scheme then checks with the customer’s bank for the availability of funds.
• Once the payment is accepted, the said amount is debited from the customer’s bank account and held by the payment processing company.
• The sale is then confirmed to both the customer and the merchant by the payment gateway.
• The payment processing company transfers the money at the end of the trading day for all the merchant’s sales to the merchant’s bank account.

Types of the online payment system

Those days are long gone where only cash was accepted as payment. Thanks to rapid change in technology, today there are several payment methods available:

• Debit/credit cards
• Net banking
• e-Wallets
• UPI
• Pay on delivery

Steps to create an online payment system

Before getting into the steps, the crucial thing is to identify your requirements. If you’re a large business outfit, you might consider building your in-house payment system. However, this requires that you have a robust IT landscape at your disposal.

Else, you can also choose third-party payment options. While choosing an online payment solution, you should also keep in mind your growth planning, your client demographics, your product offerings, and the reliability of your IT team/third party vendor. 

Now since you understand the online payment system a little better, let’s look at the steps to create your online payment system:

Step 1: Consult with an expert to ensure that you get all the coding, security, and compliance issues are on track.

Step 2: Build your payment page.

Step 3: Find a payment processor like CCAvenue, PayU, etc., which allows you to process payments from various modes.

Step 4: Finally, integrate your payment processor with your payment form/page.

There is a lot to ponder when setting up an online payment system for your business. A good payment solution is cost-effective, easy, and secure for your customers and will allow you to control their data and offer them a seamless journey that accepts all major modes of payment.

Also, the payment solution should suit your budget and provide seamless support whenever you might require it.