Ways to get paid that you might not know about

Let’s not beat around the bush, getting paid is the aim of the game for any business owner. You’re probably already familiar with the idea of till systems and card machines, but there are a couple of others on the payments market and making sure you’re clued up on what they are and how you use them will keep you one step ahead of the rest. 

Most might assume offering payment by card is sufficient, but the reality is if you’re not accepting payments the way your customer wants to provide it, you might lose them, and that’s especially true of younger generations of consumers. 

Pay by link and pay by text options are still relatively new to the market (compared to their counterparts), so here we’ll tell you everything you need to know about what they are and how to use them so you never find yourself turning a paying customer away. 

Pay by link

What is it?

Offering pay by link couldn’t be simpler and it’ll look something like this: 

1. You send an email to your buyer with a customised link 
2. They click on the link from their email 
3. The link takes them to a secure payment page 
4. They pop in their card details
5. Voila you’ve been paid.

How do I set it up?

To get cracking you’ll need to set up a merchant management system with your payments provider (spoiler, we offer them). Once you’ve done that all you’ll need to do is log in via any internet-enabled device and send your link in one of three ways:

1. Copy and paste your pay link into an email,
2. Create an electronic invoice and send it, and
3. Send a customisable email with a ‘pay now’ button.

Good to know

With pay by link, you’ll still be able to accept all major debit and credit cards including MasterCard, Visa, American Express and Maestro. Here are a few more perks:

• Accept payments 24/7 - you don’t need to be active on the other side
• Accept payments from all over the world - you’re not restricted by location
• Build on your brand image and customise your links to your business
• You don’t need a website to use them
• You’ll have access to real-time online reporting (with us, anyway)
• It’s super easy to keep track of all your payments.

Pay by text

What is it?

Pay by text options are pretty cutting edge in today’s payments market but the way systems, as well as customer preferences, are evolving rapidly, it’s likely they’ll be run-of-the-mill in no time. Here’s how it works:

1. Customers opt-in to receiving payment text reminders or pay by text messages
2. An account is created for each customer to securely store their payment details 
3. The account is only accessible via a code they generate
4. When it’s time to pay they reply to a text with their unique code and the payment’s processed via a secure payment gateway

How do I set it up?

As it stands, this is a fairly untapped area of taking payments but watch this space for the latest developments. Keeping you one step ahead of the rest is our bread and butter, and of course, we’ll guide you through the whole process when the time comes. 

Good to know

The benefits of pay by text look like this:

• Once a customer’s set up they won’t need their card details to make a payment, making it a super convenient option
• You’ll build customer loyalty with friendly reminders, marketing texts, and a simple payment solution
• You remove the need for payees to hand out personal information every time they want to pay you
• You’ll be offering a powerful and innovative payment option, giving you an edge over your competitors.

We'll let you know as soon as we offer this type of service.

Like the idea of offering the latest ways to pay before anyone else? Then you’re in the right place. Our pay by link option is tried and tested, easy to use and even simpler to set up, so get in touch with our experts on 08082 393254 to get the ball rolling. 

We pride ourselves in offering you the latest payment methods and our pay by text option will be arriving very soon, so keep in touch to give yourself a headstart. 

Bryony Pearce

Copywriter