One of the key rules of commercial success is to make it easy for people to do business with you. And when it comes to how you receive payments for your goods or services, a key part of that means having multiple payment options available.
This can be beneficial to both the user experience and your cash flow. A US study in late 2020 found that up to 42% of respondents would stop an online purchase if their preferred payment method wasn’t available. Other habits and behaviours cited included things like website usability, information security concerns and reluctance to deviate from what they know and are familiar with.
In accounts receivable and invoice payment terms, these habits and concerns are still there, compounded by other factors such as the effectiveness of your client’s own cash collection processes. Their poor collection processes may negatively impact their cash flow and their ability to pay their creditors.
As economic pressures continue to build, now is the time to be reviewing your payment options.
What payment options should you offer?
FeeSynergy spends a lot of time working with businesses like yours to help them get paid for what they do. The clients who perform best when it comes to things like being paid promptly or having lower debtor days than others generally use a combination of payment options including:
- Online Payment Gateway: this is basically a one stop (and one click) shop for receiving payment by credit card or debit card and facilitating payment arrangements which will suit the client’s cash flow whilst meeting the needs of the provider. FeeSynergy’s payment gateway enables 24/7 client self-service where all invoices can be viewed and actioned via a number of secure payment options.
- Direct Debit: direct debit facilities are very popular and provide a number of payment options including one-off and recurring scheduled payments. Automated direct debit solutions provided by FeeSynergy benefit both debtors and creditors alike.
- Instalment Options: the payment terms can be tailored to suit the client’s cash flow (usually over 3 – 12 months) but you receive payment in full within a few days of the application being processed. When you use FeeSynergy’s Fee Finance instalment options, we take care of follow up if there are defaults and manage the whole service for you.
- Bank Transfer: bank transfer (EFT) payments usually account for over 80% of all payments received by professional service firms.
- PayID: this relatively new type of payment option has the same effect as a bank transfer with the difference being the service provider’s invoices will display their PayID code rather than their bank account BSB and Account number details. FeeSynergy’s payments platform is both BPay and PayID enabled.
Payment Flexibility Matters More Than Ever
A recent Westpac Bank survey found that consumer confidence has plunged in recent months – it’s currently around where it was at the peak of the pandemic in 2020 and prior to that, these levels hadn’t been seen since February 2009 when the world was recovering from the Global Financial Crisis. Surging supplier costs, increased wages and more are all impacting businesses too and that pressure is expected to continue to mount.
Ensuring you have a combination of good systems to help you get paid, with the range of payment types that suit your customers’ and clients’ budgets and preferences will put you in a good position to navigate uncertain trading conditions.
FeeSynergy offers a range of stand alone products and packages to help you get paid sooner, and ensure that you stand out from the crowd when it comes to how people do business with you. Get in touch with us today.
