Embracing new payment methods

As technologies evolve, so do payment methods. It is our responsibility, to stay up-to-date on payment methods to match our merchants’ payment acceptance capability with consumers’ desire for simplicity and convenience. By investing in new and emerging payment methods, we can increase speed and help streamline your business.

In order for businesses to find the right payment solutions, we need to identify potential problem areas when accepting payments. Accenture asked consumers about their pain points when making payments, and they responded with:

• Slow payment experiences
• Declined payments / contactless not working
• Business doesn’t support preferred method of payment
• The card doesn’t link to a digital wallet
• Complicated online credit card process

Essentially, consumers want easier ways to pay that still give them control. Below are some of the newer methods that can make payments easier for customers.

Contactless

Simplicity is always the best, and it doesn't get any simpler than contactless payments. A contactless payment is a wireless transaction using radio-frequency identification (RFID) or near field identification to communicate with the payment terminal. This popular form of payment eliminates the need to touch a screen or device, making it a popular choice for customers and merchants desiring a fast experience.

In addition to increasing the speed of transactions, contactless payments have a lower fraud rate for merchants. EMV contactless transactions create unique encrypted one-time authorization codes for each transaction, a safer solution, especially compared to the transaction authorized from the traditional magnetic stripe data.

Digital wallets

As smartphones have become an essential accessory, it’s only natural to utilize them as a payment method. Digital wallets run on any connected device (phone, tablet, etc.) and can securely store a cardholders’ payment information. By storing your credit card, debit card, and bank account info in your digital wallet, you have a simple go-to location for online and in-store payments.

The digital wallet is a somewhat new payment method, but quickly gaining traction. Over the past couple of years, the percentage of Americans using a mobile wallet at some point jumped from 38% to 49%, and that number is growing. Digital wallets are a safer alternative to traditional credit cards because they’re convenient, easy to use, help mitigate fraud, and offer more payment security through tokenization of the payment card data. And taking these payments is now even easier with Elavon Converge payment gateway.

In-app payments

Apps have been around for more than 15 years. Everybody has heard of them. And with this longevity comes refinement. Payment systems inside native apps have become so secure and easy that in-app purchases are one of the most preferred ways for consumers to make payments. They speed up the purchasing process by eliminating bouncing customers from various pages and websites.

Elavon app integration gives businesses the flexibility to customize their payment experience while maintaining control over the look and customer journey within their app. And the direct integration lets you collect payment data for your services and then pass it to Elavon.

Whether you do business online, via mobile, or in person, Elavon is the innovative, secure, and global partner for your payment processing needs. Contact us today to learn more.