Online payments have changed drastically in recent years. Retailers must now balance consumer preferences for support for a range of different payment options with robust security to safeguard sensitive data.

At the same time, however, a long-winded or confusing payment system can turn customers off, and even push them toward the competition.

Clearly, retailers have their work cut out for them as they seek out a payment portal that’s seamless, protected and PCI compliant.

Expanding digital and mobile payments: Supporting consumer preferences

A 2017 report from Capital Performance Group and American Bankers Association showed significant growth in electronic and mobile payments in recent years. In addition to preferring electronic payment portals, consumers now utilize credit cards more than debit cards, and require quick payment processing on these transactions in particular:

  • Card payments saw the fastest growth recently, with credit cards supporting 60 percent of all non-cash transactions and non-prepaid debit cards accounting for 40 percent.
  • ACH transfers saw growth as well, comprising 80 percent of dollar transactions.
  • Estimates place the overall transaction value from mobile payments at $62.5 billion in 2017, and forecast a value of more than $314 billion by 2020.

While mobile payments are gaining steam, the report found that there is still some hesitation here, especially when it comes to data protection concerns.

mobile paymentsDigital and mobile payments are on the rise.

In order to achieve success in this landscape, retailers must securely support card payments as well as mobile payments, and should show the security safeguards in place to quell any hesitation or worry.

Selecting a payment solution that enables consumers to utilize their preferred payment method within a simple and PCI-compliant portal will allow retailers to align payment processing to shoppers’ demands, as well as their own industry needs.

What does streamlined mean? Implementing the right technology

In addition to supporting customer needs for digital and mobile payments, a streamlined payment solution also comes with these critical features:

  • A simple, branded portal: As KISSmetrics contributor Kostas Papageorgiou pointed out, any redirection from the website to the payment portal represents a major disadvantage for retailers – after working to build up website traffic, it doesn’t make much sense to redirect users at the final step. Instead, a best-in-class payment portal will directly integrate with retailers’ existing website, and support a branded window through which consumers can complete their transactions.
  • Support for unique payment processing needs: In addition to traditional, individual web transactions, a streamlined payment solution will support other requirements as well, including a subscription model, recurring billing, installment plans and automatic payments.
  • Customer engagement: It’s important that the payment processing solution can support engagement throughout the process, particularly when a business has options for automatic and recurring payments. Selecting a solution that displays invoices within the secure payment portal and also provides customer notifications for billing and payment processing is a clear advantage for today’s retailers, keeping customers in the loop as payments are sent and processed.

Retailers seeking a payment portal that hits all of these marks need look no further than ePay Advantage from SK Global Software. This streamlined portal is a user-friendly processing solution that is completely PCI compliant and secure. Best of all, it aligns with the needs of retailers as well as their customers.

Delve deeper into ePay Advantage features here, and connect with us to schedule a demo today.