As a business, you need to be ready to send and receive payments. Bearing that in mind, we’ve put together a piece that highlights the three main payment methods your business needs to use. Check them out down below:
Credit/debit cards
One of the best ways to accept payments from customers is with credit/debit cards. They’re fast, and with the introduction of contactless payments, they’re even faster than ever before. These are ideal for businesses that have a high concentration of customers such as the retail and restaurant businesses mentioned earlier. Customers like paying with their card as it’s convenient and they don’t have to handle any change. Plus, they can use their cards online to make secure payments too, which is another bonus.
From the viewpoint of sending payments, your business can also benefit from using cards to make certain transactions. For example, if you have to travel to a conference, you can use a business credit card to pay for your travel tickets and then claim tax relief as it’s a business expense. No matter how you look at it, credit/debit cards are fantastic payment methods for you and your customers.
The paper trail
Believe it or not, but a lot of the business world still like to pay for things via checks. In truth, this is a method that doesn’t work for all companies as a way of accepting payments. For example, retail stores or restaurants would be ill advised to start accepting checks on their premises as it just complicates things. But, if you’re a business that offers a service you should accept checks as they’re very secure and easy to log.
Similarly, they’re brilliant to use when paying for things yourself. If your business used a marketing agency is gets sent an invoice, sending a check is the most secure way to pay your debts. The main issue is that you can run out of checks and need more. But, they’re easy to get, and you can even buy overnight checks in emergencies. So, a great method to consider for both accepting payments and making them.
Bank transfers
For businesses that offer a service, bank transfers are often on of the preferred ways to get paid. All you have to do is send an invoice to your customer, and they can send money directly from their account to yours. It’s very fast, sometimes if the accounts are from the same bank, it happens instantly. Plus, you can send payments online too, meaning customers can use online banking and pay for things in a flash. It’s super secure as well, which adds to the benefits.
When it comes to sending payments, this is also a popular method for businesses thanks to it being so fast and secure.
You’ll notice that cash doesn’t make it on this list and there are reasons for this. It’s only really good for small transactions, and fewer people are carrying cash around anyway. Plus, it’s the most insecure means of paying for something, and one of the hardest to keep track of.
