Five payment gateway benefits that will give your finance team peace of mind.
Payment gateways present considerable benefits in a market where many finance teams need help managing exponential growth. Where they were once responsible for monitoring a manageable number of monthly payments, these days, many find themselves swamped with an ever-growing user base and face overwhelming workloads. It can become hard to track (particularly when dealing with varying billing frequencies), process, and promptly follow up on missed payments. Resulting in a perfect storm—causing many customers to jump ship and companies to leak considerable revenue.
As a result, payment gateways have become necessary for recurring revenue. They offer a window through which customers can securely manage their recurring billing and update details. Those investing in modern subscription billing must ensure all the puzzle pieces are in place to reap the benefits of their efforts. Below are five payment gateway benefits that will give your finance team peace of mind.
The most significant advantage of a payment gateway is speedier, safer, and smoother transactions. From a customer experience point of view, this is a must. Nothing sews distrust faster than botched payments or a lack of transparency about where billing details are stored. Rather than subject your customers to the administrative backlog, payment gateways give peace of mind, giving users a straightforward, familiar interface to manage their billing without waiting for customer care or wondering when their payment will be processed.
Traditionally, many customers may have shared their payment details in person, over the phone, or through email. However, the modern customer may be receiving your services from anywhere. Physical proximity is no longer necessary, and with so many companies rolling out virtual services, they will likely be engaging clientele from different regions. Those without gateways risk bottlenecking payment processing and inundating teams with customer complaints as users try to get in touch to change account details, query discrepancies, and confirm receipt of payments.
One can never overestimate the importance of security tools and fraud detection in today’s payment landscape. With cyber crimes on the rise, it’s critical to protect customers from data breaches. One of the key advantages of payment gateways is that the onus of payment security is on the provider.
They’ve entire teams dedicated to keeping their systems up to date with the most advanced features and security compliance. The best gateways are equipped with the most up-to-date security features, such as fraud detection tools, PCI-DSS compliance, and advanced data encryption.
The simplification of every stage of the payment process means that both the customer and your finance team save a considerable amount of time. With phone lines no longer clogged, teams can focus on strategic planning and investigating discrepancies. By automating the process, you can meet customers’ expectations with ease. And with a portal through which they can easily access and update information, customers feel more in control and no longer must make time to resolve simple issues.
It’s no surprise that a frustrating billing process can lead recurring customers to leave, as it’s simply not worth the ongoing hassle. Gateways can reduce customer churn, as those who regularly interact with your payments department no longer face the usual frustrations. Instead, by giving them the tools they need to manage payments with just a few clicks, you will improve their experience, and they will be more likely to base their loyalty on the quality of your products and services.
Declined transactions and missed payments are a considerable strain on resources. If you add up the hours spent chasing down card details and trying to implement effective dunning processes, you might be surprised at how much energy your team could spend elsewhere. Payment gateways automate this process, checking the availability of funds in real time and reducing the likelihood of a build-up of failed payments that your team needs to follow up on.
It is also possible to automate notifications for missed or declined payments if the gateway integrates with your recurring billing system, so that customers can log on to the gateway and quickly update their information.
Customers are no longer confined to purchasing products and services within their market, and it’s common for users to shop online until they find the best possible deal. This means you may have users who use different payment methods than the most common ones available in your region. Payment gateways enable you to accept a much more comprehensive array of payment types and cards. They also allow your customers to pay in the currency of their preference. As a result, you can quickly grow your market share in international markets.
