Guest article provided by: delesign.com
Over several centuries, we have had different means of exchange. From the barter system to legal tenders like coins and paper. Once again, we are experiencing an evolution of our exchange system to digital money via mobile payments.
According to survey results, this new system is fast using mobile wallets to replace physical ones. Many view this as one of the best inventions of all. No wonder this form of payment is fast taking the business world by storm. The question is this, why should your business embrace this new invention?
Mobile Payments
The concept is very simple to understand. It involves initiating the transfer of funds via mobile devices. It is important to note at this point that there is a difference between this and mobile commerce.
The former involves making payments for transactions via mobile devices. While the latter involves initiating trade via mobile and paying with cash or swiping a card. Completely different.
Why Make The Switch?
NFC Payment
Businesses are gradually accepting this new technology while others are reluctant. Being reluctant is understandable because not everyone understands the new system and its benefits. However, once you do, you’ll find it easier to switch to mobile payments. Here are a few reasons:
- Convenience
Making payments via mobile is convenient for everyone. From the customer to the merchant and even sales staff, it just makes life so easy.
This invention means that customers will no longer need to carry funds around. They’ll enjoy quicker checkouts as well.
Your company will be able to provide customers increased satisfaction and better customer experience. These transactions are faster and less cumbersome especially since everyone has mobile phones these days.
- Security
It is more secure to make payments via mobile. Why? There are so many reasons.
Firstly, many of these platforms have more than one security layer. There is something called two-factor authentication. This gives you an extra layer of protection through dynamic encryption.
Secondly, several advanced methods have been and are still being integrated with mobile payment platforms. This is necessary to protect card information and maintain security during transactions. Some of the more famous measures include biometrics and PIN.
- Business Expansion
Let’s paint a scenario here very quickly. If you can pay for a product or service anywhere at any time, wouldn’t it be worth telling your friends about? Exactly.
Once your customers enjoy the benefit of fast checkout and improved customer satisfaction, they’ll tell others. This will expand your business reach and place your footprint in all kinds of places you didn’t expect.
By the way, it is proven that customers tend to buy more when they transact via mobile payments. Now, you don’t need to worry about counting cash each day and transporting funds to the bank. You can focus more on improving your services and expanding your business.
- Efficiency
Using mobile payment platforms provides you with amazing management tools. These tools help you achieve a lot and improve your business in the long run. Some of the functions you’ll enjoy include transaction tracking, transaction management, invoice generation and sharing, and data entry.
What does this mean to your business? Now you can track each customer’s transactions and what they purchase. It gives you a better opportunity at relating to each customer on a personal basis.
Overall, you’ll be able to improve how you operate your business. This will lead to better services and management efficiency.
- Improved Customer Experience
So we have mentioned this a couple of times already, not a problem. This form of payment was designed to improve the customer experience in the first place.
Let’s paint another scenario here. Two sellers contact you to patronize them. One allows you to make your payment via mobile and the other doesn’t. Who are you likely to patronize and keep patronizing?
That basically explains this point. When customers make payments, they do not just pay for the products, they are paying for the experience. They deserve faster checkout times, the flexibility of payments, and a lot of conveniences.
This is what the customer experience is about. Also, you get the opportunity to track their transactions. Knowing what they like to buy most makes it easy to conduct promotions, a major aspect of customer experience. Put these together and you’ll ensure customer loyalty.
- Reduced Costs
We have been talking about how the customer enjoys benefits from mobile payments. How does it affect you as a merchant?
The first is that it saves you from spending excessively on physical devices to process payments. All your customers need to do is pay you via mobile. This way, you don’t need a card reader or POS machine.
A simple application on your mobile will do. Now you can send receipts and invoices rather than print them out. This saves you money usually spent on buying ink and paper. More than this, you’ll be able to eliminate overhead costs and reduce unnecessary bank charges.
Why Businesses are Slow in Accepting this Invention
If mobile payments come with this many benefits, why then are businesses not making the switch? There a few tangible reasons and we will show you some of them in this section.
Security Concerns
No doubt, this new payment invention is evolving by the day to become more user-friendly. The bad news is that there are hackers and they are also evolving. While mobile payment platforms seem to get it right most of the time, customers and merchants develop cold feet.
Such cold feet come from the uncertainty of how secure the platforms are. No one wants to lose their hard-earned funds to fraudsters. But we’ll have to make the switch soon enough, won’t we?
Awareness
Not many merchants or customers know about mobile payments. It shouldn’t be shocking because this invention is quite new.
We are not saying that they don’t know about this method of payment. The problem is that they don’t have an idea of how it works and the advantages it brings to the table. Understanding the mechanics relating to data privacy and transaction security will lead to more acceptance.
Acceptance
It is one thing not to be aware, it is another to be aware and want to stick to the norm. In many parts of the world, some business owners, especially small businesses, prefer to stick with the norm.
For them, it is a matter of staying with what I know and can work with rather than learning something new. Others are simply scared of the demerits and will rather not be victims or guinea pigs, as the case may be.
Transaction Tracking
One thing is sure, as long as you pay via mobile, the transaction leaves a digital footprint. This means each transaction can be tracked.
The implication of this is that you do not have as much privacy as you will like. If you have a problem with this, then you’ll likely not subscribe.
Application Choice
There are so many mobile payment applications. It is difficult to choose one as the best. There is also a chance that the one the customer uses is different from that of the merchant. This disparity may be cumbersome in the end until payment platforms can integrate.
Conclusion
With mobile payments, your business has a chance at improving customer experience and relationships. It also helps you save money and improve management efficiency. You should follow the trend now instead of trying to catch up later.
——————————————————-
Author:
Maria De La Pena
Maria is a content writer for the unlimited graphic design service Delesign with a keen interest in eCommerce and internet marketing. She is a communications graduate and understands what it takes to write persuasive copy and blog posts. Outside of work, you can find her mini-blogging about her life on social media.