Accepting online payments across platforms has so many benefits for your small business. Not only is it more convenient for your customers to have various payment options to purchase your products online, but most online payment systems also come with detailed reports that can help you track your business income automatically. 

In this post, we will share a complete guide about what you need to know about accepting online payments for your small business. From some reasons why you must implement online payment options into your business workflow, to a few online payment platforms you can consider for your small business. 

Why You Need to Accept Online Payments for Your Small Business

It’s 2023, and accepting online payments is not only what makes your business stay competitive in the market, but it’s also necessary if you want to streamline your business finance. 

There are some benefits of providing online payment options for your small business, and these include:

• Adding online payment options for your customers can improve your customer experience: Providing a good customer experience is crucial for your business’s success as it can increase the retaining customers, which may also lead to increased revenue for your small business. 
• You can receive the payment faster when you provide online payment options for your business: Collecting payment on time can be tough, but many online payment platforms help you automate the payment process, including invoicing, payment reminders, and payment notifications for your customers. 
• Providing online payment options can increase sales for your business: When customers can purchase your products or services anytime, you can convert your marketing efforts into sales across online payment platforms through your email marketing campaign or business website. 
• Most online payment platforms also come with income tracking: allowing you to streamline your business finances. It can provide you with detailed reports that can help you analyze your business income and expenses from time to time. 

Accepting payment online is not only beneficial for your business, but it can also be an added value for potential customers to consider purchasing your products or services if the payment process won’t be a hassle for them. 

The next question is, what do you need to consider before choosing an online payment platform for your small business?

What You Need to Consider Before Choosing an Online Payment Platform

There are several factors that you may want to consider before choosing an online payment platform for your business. From the transactional fee for each purchase to its user-friendliness. It is especially essential if you’re new to using online payment platforms for your small business. 

Essentially, here are some things you need to consider before choosing an online payment platform for your business!

• User-friendliness: A simple and intuitive interface platform can save you time adjusting to the online payment process for your business, which can be a huge advantage if you’re a first-time user who’s not very tech-savvy. 
• Security: You need a platform that can provide a secured payment system to protect you with the money you earn for your business. Choose an online payment platform with various features that guarantee secured online payment, including encryption and fraud detection. 
• Online payment options.:Choose an online payment platform that offers options that your customers prefer, whether it is the platform in which they’re the user or a streamlined online payment like credit or debit cards. 
• Ease of integration with other platforms: It’s especially important if you’re planning to integrate your online payment account with other online platforms like a website or an email marketing platform like Mailchimp or Mailerlite. 
• Customer support: It is an integral factor to consider an online payment platform for your business, as you want to be able to solve any technical problem quickly if you encounter it through your payment. 
• Fees and monthly subscriptions: Each online payment platform usually charges different fees for their services, with some offering monthly subscriptions instead of a small deduction fee for every purchase. It’s important to understand the platform’s pricing structure and ensure that it offers transparent and feasible fees for your small business operations. 

Once you factor in the things you need to choose the best online platform, it’s time to pick one that’s most suitable for your business!

7 Online Payment Platforms for Your Small Business

In this section, we will discuss several online payment platforms that you can consider for your business. Starting from the most popular ones, like Stripe or PayPal, we will also talk about some cryptocurrency payment platforms like Coinbase Commerce or CoinPayments. 

InvoiceBerry is an online invoicing platform that simplifies your online payment experience by enabling you to integrate your account with those online payment platforms. 

Which online payment platform is the most suitable for your small business? Let’s dive deep into each platform in this section!

Stripe

Stripe is a payment processing platform that allows businesses to accept online payments globally. 

Apart from regular bank transfers, Stripe offers various payment methods, including credit and debit cards and digital wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay. Depending on your business type, you can also integrate your Stripe account into Alipay digital wallet if you have customers based in China. 

Stripe provides robust security measures to protect each transaction through various features, including tokenization and two-factor authentication. It also supports over 130 currencies, making it a great option if you serve customers globally. 

While no monthly subscription fee is applied if you use Stripe as your online payment platform, they’re transparent with their transactional fee as they charge 2.9% plus 30¢ for every sale you make across the platform.  

Square

Square is notably known as it was founded by Jack Dorsey, the co-founder of Twitter. However, there’s so much more to Square than just the popular name behind it.

On top of the regular credit and debit card payments, Square also offers payment through various channels, including point-of-sale (POS) systems and digital wallets. Square also provides tools for your business to sell and accept gift cards as a form of online payment for your products and services. 

Apart from an online payment platform, Square is also equipped with various features that help you track your income and expenses, including invoicing and payroll services. 

Suitable for small to big businesses, Square charges 3.5% plus 15¢ for each debit or credit card payment. However, if you need some of their additional features, a monthly subscription may be applied depending on the type of advanced features you need for your business. 

WePay

WePay is an online payment gateway that provides a variety of payment methods, including bank transfer and digital wallet. 

The platform enables your business to accept payment online as you can integrate the platforms with your website, e-commerce platform, or mobile apps. WePay also offers various a range of tools and APIs for developers to easily integrate their online payment platform for various channels.

Apart from providing a secure online payment for your business through their risk and fraud management tools, WePay also provides customization for your online payment platform in which you can create an online checkout experience based on your business brand. 

While the transactional fee for various online payment methods like card payment is similar to Stripe and Square, there may be additional fees if you choose WePay as your online payment platform, depending on the payment plan you choose for your business.

GoCardless

GoCardless is a great online payment option for businesses with retaining customers, as it allows you to collect recurring payments from your customers via direct debit through their bank. 

Apart from the recurring payment plan and easy integration with various invoicing platforms like InvoiceBerry, GoCardless applies a flat rate for every transaction made through the platform. The platform is a great choice, especially if your business operates in the UK or Eurozone, as it charges only 1% plus £/€ 0.20 depending on which currency you use for the payment. For international payments, GoCardless applies 2% plus £0.20 for each transaction. 

While their standard plan is free, you can also get extra features like customization for a monthly subscription of £50. 

Paypal

Paypal is one of the most common online payment platforms for small businesses. As of 2023, Paypal has over 400 million active accounts making it a great payment option for online transactions. 

As one of the most widely accepted payment methods for online transactions, Paypal seems like one of the best online platforms in the market. However, you also need to consider some of the downsides as their transactional fee could be quite steep depending on where you created your Paypal business account. 

You can use the Paypal fee calculator to ensure that the transactional fee they apply won’t be too high for your business. Other than that, Paypal comes with plenty of benefits with easy integration across online platforms. Whether you want to connect it to your landing page or business website, you can use the APIs to customize your payment integration. 

Paypal also has a native invoicing system, making it easy to streamline your cash flow and track your income and expenses through the platform. 

Coinbase Commerce

Cryptocurrencies are widely accepted for online payments, and Coinbase Commerce is one of the leading markets in online payment platforms for various types of cryptocurrencies globally. From Bitcoin to Litecoin, you can receive payment through your favorite crypto without needing third-party tools with Coinbase Commerce. 

Coinbase Commerce provides a secure payment processing solution, with funds being stored in secure wallets that are protected with multi-signature authentication and encryption. On top of that, Coinbase Commerce also charges a relatively low transactional fee compared to other payment platforms, as it only charges 1% for every cryptocurrency transaction. 

CoinPayments

Similar to Coinbase Commerce, CoinPayments also enable your business to accept payment using over 1,000 different cryptocurrencies. Payments received through CoinPayments are also settled real time, which makes it more convenient for businesses to receive funds without delay. 

CoinPayments also offer several integration options, including plugins for various e-commerce platforms like Shopify and WooCommerce. You can also take advantage of their developer APIs for customizable integrations on your online platforms. 

Compared to Coinbase Commerce, CoinPayments also charge lower as it only applies 0.5% of each purchase as the transactional fee.

How to Implement an Online Payment System for Your Small Business

Now that you can identify the best online payment platform for your small business, it’s time to take the next step to implement it in your business operations. Here are some steps you can do to streamline your online payment system for your business!

• Choose your online payment processor and set up an account to ensure you can receive payment online through their platform. 
• Integrate it with the other online platforms for your business: Whether you need to use the custom APIs on your business website, or you need to integrate them using tools like Zapier, you can streamline your online payment system with your entire business workflow. 
• Test the system before you offer it to your customers: You need to make sure that your online payment system works. Create a dummy payment to see if the transaction goes through before launching it to the real paying customers. 
• Monitor and optimize the online payment features: Each platform offers some useful data that you can analyze to track your financial KPIs, make sure to take advantage of these features to grow your small business and improve your cash flow. 

Conclusion

Implementing an online payment system can benefit your small business by monitoring your revenue and attracting customers, especially when you manage to build your online presence through a business website or e-commerce. 

Choosing online payment platforms for your small business can be tricky, but you can always factor in some integral parts of each platform to ensure you choose the most suitable one for your business. 

Alternatively, you can also choose a streamlined invoicing platform like InvoiceBerry that can easily integrate with various online payment platforms to create the best customer experience for your small business. Sign up now for a free trial to see how InvoiceBerry can improve the online payment experience for your small business!