Thinking of opening your online store ? It is an excellent idea, this type of business has less administrative costs, allows you to access new markets  and you can specifically analyze what your client is looking for.

Surely you already have advanced the design of the site, as well as other details of your operation. Now is the time to choose how you are going to process payments for your online store and this is one of the key points for your ecommerce, which unfortunately many entrepreneurs leave until the last moment.

What is the safest way to receive payment online?

It is necessary to bear in mind that this element is of utmost importance when selling online, especially in these times of the greatest boom in electronic commerce.An online sales campaign organized by the Online Sales Association (AMVO), being able to pay in various ways on the Internet was placed among the top 5 reasons to buy online. While one of the three main motivators, for non-buyers, to be interested in Hot Sale was the one that offered more ways to pay in addition to debit and credit.

In terms of payment methods, payment by debit card continues to be one of the main payment methods during the campaign. Digital bank cards take hold as a payment method compared to previous editions. Other payment methods such as deposits or transfers weighed more in this edition than credit card or departmental cards, according to information from the AMVO.

Also, consider that the fragmentation of payment methods varies greatly from one place to another. While some payment methods, such as major credit card brands, are already available in almost every country, others remain confined to a single country or even a single segment of that country’s population.

Identifying potential customers is an important first step for a business to decide its payment options. The distribution of payment methods used in Internet commerce varies radically from one area of ​​the world to another, but also within specific areas.

So, below we will tell you how online payments work and what are some of the providers that can help you integrate these solutions to your business and what are the key points that you can consider.

What is a payment gateway and how does it work

Let’s imagine that you are about to finish with the design of your page. At this point you have already bought a domain, you already have your page with the photographs and descriptions of your products, you have already configured a shopping cart within the ecommerce platform you selected and you have already decided how you are going to send your merchandise to customers, etc. .

• Now you must connect the shopping cart with a service that can process card payments digitally and for this you need a service of gateways or payment platforms and they work as follows.
• Let’s say that your page is already fully functional and consequently your customers can now browse, choose the products and add them to the shopping cart.
• Once a person has finished deciding the total of their purchase, they will proceed with the payment. To do this, you must enter your contact information, the shipping address and your card details.

When your client clicks the pay button, the information is processed by the payment gateway who first validates that the data is correct, then sends it to the bank that issued the card with which the payment was made and requests authorization to make the transaction.Subsequently, the bank gives an answer if the transaction was approved or not and finally the deposit will be made to your account. Be careful, the deposit times depend on each provider.

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Best Online payment options

There are two options for digital entrepreneurs to receive payments online: traditional banks and payment gateways such as:

• Stripe
• Paypal
• Conekta
• Adyen
• OpenPay
• Pay U

Keep in mind that only some banks in Mexico offer a special account to process payments. The advantage they offer is that they provide the lowest commissions than their competitors.The bad news is that the process to open this type of account can be very long and many documents will be required to prove that your company is legal. Also, you will need a programmer because for the bank’s system to work with your site it is quite complex.

In fact, all these factors are the reason why payment gateways have become the main ally of virtual businesses in Mexico, since it is much easier to integrate them into your site and they offer more facilities.

Requirements to receive payments through a payment gateway

Payment gateways typically ask for:

• A bank account to deposit the payments you receive.
• Official identification of legal representative
• RFC as a legal person with business activity
• Documentation that proves that your company is legally formed.

Remember, these providers usually play an intermediary role between financial institutions and your business, so it is likely that in some cases they will ask you for more documents to verify that the operation of your business is regulated.

For example, if you sell certain foods, it is likely that they will ask you for the licenses corresponding to those foods, or if you are a travel agency that has the permits from the Ministry of Tourism.

3 keys to choosing a payment gateway

There are many providers that can help you receive payments online at your store . Now, you are probably wondering how to choose a payment gateway. Therefore, we prepare the following points to make it easier to make a decision that is optimal for the finances of your business .

commissions

All payment processors charge a commission for each transaction you make and some offer preferential rates if your sales are greater than a certain amount (this depends on each provider). As in all business lines, some services are more expensive than others, but the service they offer may have more advantages. For example, Paypal, Adyen and Stripe are the payment gateways with slightly higher commissions than the rest but they offer greater benefits in terms of customer service, anti-fraud system, billing systems or others.

Payment schemes

If your line of business is by subscription, then you will need to investigate how easy it is to apply this type of payment scheme. The same applies, if the items you sell are very expensive, check if these providers can offer Interest Free Months in your online store.

Remember, not everything is payment by card since one of the challenges that digital entrepreneurs face are the fears or fears of buying online.For example, an e-commerce survey conducted by Deloitte in 2019 revealed that the biggest concerns of users are: unauthorized charges, card cloning and information theft.

For this reason, it is also worth evaluating payment processors that enable payments with electronic transfers and even offline payments in convenience stores, pharmacies or supermarkets.

Offline payment system

This payment system works differently. When your customers choose this form of payment, they will receive a payment token with a barcode or a reference number to go to a physical establishment and there make the payment with cash. Take into account that the commissions in this scheme are more expensive since the establishment will charge a commission (to you and your client) for processing the payment. Another consideration is if you want to implement this type of payment in your business, it is the time in which you receive the payment confirmation. Some providers can confirm immediately and others take time to notify the payment between 24 hrs to 48 hrs.

Some providers that offer this type of billing system:

• BuyPayment
• Conekta
• OpenPay
• Banwire
• Pay U

Most of these systems have different facilities and tutorials to integrate their payment system with the most common ecommerce platforms (Shopify, Woocommerce, Magento, Prestashop, etc.). The best thing is that you check with your programmer how easy the integration process will be and if the payment processor has a good support team to support you in any situation.

Remote payments to sell without a website

If the above does not suit your business because they sell through social networks, do not worry. Options have emerged to generate remote payment links that can be sent through messaging applications, mail or social networks.

A few months ago, Clip launched Remote Payments in its application so that businesses can sell remotely, safely and without the need for a website. In other words, it is an online payment method because the payment is made without the card present and therefore without the terminal.

To use it, you only need to download the Clip application (available for Android and iOS ) and generate a link, which you can send to your clients through email, text messages, WhatsApp or social networks. Thus, businesses will be able to accept online payments with a maximum amount per transaction of $ 1,500 pesos and a cap per day of $ 7,500 pesos.

In this way, your clients do not need to have an online banking account or another application, because by clicking on the link their device will open a browser window where they can fill in their card details and make the payment.

Most Popular Payment Solutions

Another option is Swap, an application that was created with the aim of helping to send money between people, easily and quickly, without having to have someone else’s bank details.When sending or collecting money through the Swap Keyboard, a link will be generated to which the user must enter their bank details to receive or pay the corresponding amount.

The link is valid for 7 days and if it expires, the money will be returned to the Swap Balance of the person who sent the money.It is possible to make movements from your debit or credit cards and send money to anyone on your contact list, you only need their phone or email

Collection requests can only be sent only between validated Swap users. So to send a payment request, you can do it from the application in the “collect” option.In case you want to add the Swap app specifically to request payments, you have the option of a trade-type account. If so, the business would absorb a commission of 3.5% plus VAT per transaction.

Remember, this is one of the most relevant decisions within the operation of your business, so consider all the factors that we have given you.If you’re looking for a way to improve customer trust, integrate a payment solution that inspires trust, supports multiple payment methods, and is protected from potential fraudulent actions.

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