Guide: how to charge with a card in my business

Have you decided to charge by card in your business? Here is a brief guide with everything you need to know before choosing how to process card payments online and also why you should accept card payments online in your business.

Why charge by card in my business?

The use of credit or debit cards continues to be predominant in online purchases and payments. It is used as a payment method by 85.2% of users (Ontsi, 2021). In second place is PayPal, and far below other alternative payment methods such as mobile payment and bank transfer.

The figures place the credit card as the favorite way for consumers to make payments online, being the most used by people of all ages. This reflects the importance of being able to charge with a card in a business and, even more important, accepting card payments.

Some of the advantages of charging by card are:

●      Improve customer conversion.

●      Guarantee secure online payments.

●      Automatically manage sales.

How to charge by card in my business?

There are very different ways to charge with a card, but not all of them are suitable for charging with a card in your business. We are going to review the systems that companies use to accept card payments. With all the information you can choose the option that best suits your business.

Charge with card through POS

A POS or "Point of Sale Terminal" is the system used by most businesses to charge by card. However, it should be noted that it works based on hardware, that is, on a physical device that requires a physical connection between the seller and the buyer. In addition, the necessary infrastructure to receive card payments is made up of various physical components (card reader, screen, management software...) which implies purchase and maintenance costs, as well as payment of commissions.

For this reason, receiving card payments with a POS has difficulties for some businesses. In addition, it is not a valid option to charge online with a card.

Charge with card through virtual POS

The classic POS in digital form is called Virtual POS. Faced with the need to accept online card payments, banks have developed a way to charge with a credit card online. This means that businesses can have a digital version of a dataphone and that customers can pay online by entering their card details or through contactless technology.

To have this online collection service, it is necessary to contact a bank, since it is this bank that is in charge of providing this virtual POS and the one that makes the connection between the buyer and the seller.

Charge with card without POS

In general, businesses accept card payments with a POS, either physical or virtual, which implies a physical environment to collect or an agreement with a bank (to which high costs and commissions have to be paid). Faced with this situation, many businesses wonder if there is another way to charge with a card without a POS and the truth is that there is.

In recent years, payment technology has evolved to provide the most agile, efficient and economical collection options for businesses. Now it is possible to charge with a card without a POS, or what is the same, accept online payments with a card without the need to reach any agreement with a bank or have an online store.

What do I need to charge by card in my business?

If what your business needs is to charge online with a card, the best option is to find an online payment solution that allows you to charge online with a card through systems other than the above, since the POS is not the most appropriate for charging online.

‍Charging with a card without a POS is the goal sought by all businesses that want to accept online card payments. The way to do it is through paid links.

Charge online with card through payment links

Payment with a link is a trend among online businesses because it makes it much easier to accept card payments.

The operation is simple. Payment links are generated for each service or product to be charged online, shared with the client and he himself is in charge of making the online payment by entering his card details. The advantage of making online payments with payment links is that you do not need to have a web page to sell, which expands the possibilities of selling to companies of all kinds, for example creating payment QR codes.

 

On the other hand, payment links allow you to receive online payments of all kinds, whether unique or recurring. This is also an advantage over other forms of payment, which do not always give the option of charging online on a recurring basis, or what would be the same, charging subscriptions by card.

Choosing a payment service provider

Due to the growth of online payments in general, and card payments in particular, it is necessary to have a payment service provider that is in charge of providing the necessary technology to process this kind of online charges through payment links. .

Factors to take into account

Before choosing a payment service provider, a series of factors must be taken into account, since despite offering very similar services, not all of them have the same facilities and advantages. You must take into account the following factors, in addition to the personal ones of your business.

Technical implementation

How complex is the tool? What processes must be carried out to use it? Many of today's solutions allow businesses to charge by credit card, but not in a way that is affordable for everyone. The technical implementation is usually an impediment when using a payment service provider and the reason why businesses without technical knowledge, time or their own tech equipment, often give up the option of charging with a credit card.

Luckily, there are more and more "no code" or "low code" technological options on the market that allow users without technical knowledge to implement a tool. In other words, they have been developed with the aim of allowing businesses to integrate autonomously without depending on technical issues. In the online collection sector in particular, you can find platforms that do not require technical knowledge to be implemented, that is, to use it you do not need to know programming.

Diversity of payment methods

The variety in payment methods is the reason why many customers decide to buy or not on a website. Although we have already explained that online payment with a credit or debit card is preferred by consumers, it is true that not all of them use this as their principal. It is important to offer different payment methods so that charging online in your business is even easier.

Following the same line as the implementation without code, implementing several payment methods at the purchase checkout is usually complicated and requires a high investment in time (reducing productivity in your team) or, on the contrary, money (losing sales opportunities). sale by other forms of payment). It is important to find a payment service provider that offers the maximum facilities to integrate different payment methods, in addition to the aforementioned card payment.

Access to information

Once you have implemented a collection management system in your business and have integrated the payment methods that you want to offer your customers, it is time to know how all the sales and collection data is displayed. Each of the transactions carried out through the platform must be reflected in lists that are easy to access and read. But also unified in one place if we use different payment methods -as mentioned in the previous point.

In the day-to-day running of your business, the most important thing is efficiency, and finding information on sales, collections and customers in differentiated panels and with search and filter tools will facilitate each of the tasks of your business. In addition, the global vision of this information is also of great help in making business decisions. Some collection service providers offer metrics and reports focused on analyzing the performance of your business, which is also a very useful tool.

Security

The last aspect to take into account when choosing which payment service provider to charge with a card in your business is related to security. Although it is assumed that all payment service providers, gateways...in short, entities in charge of processing online collections have the security measures required by regulations, it is advisable to confirm that this is the case.

In the case of card payments, there is a regulation under which all sensitive and payment data provided when making an online payment are secured. It is vitally important to make sure that your business complies with the PCI DSS regulations, which are in charge of regulating transactions and authorizing you to charge with a credit card in your business.