What Can Mobile Payment Do For Your Business?

culled from:inc.com
Faster than a speeding bullet—that’s how fast you can make and receive payments on your smartphone or tablet. Well … maybe we’ve exaggerated just a little bit. But, there’s no doubt the mobile revolution sweeping the technological world today has altered the way we process credit card payments.

Imagine a futuristic cashless society where payments can be made with a touch of your phone. This may happen sooner than you think as mobile payment processes are gradually gaining popularity ousting traditional mediums of payment processing.

What Can Mobile Payment Do For Your Business

Lynne Hampton, a lawyer in Royal Palm Beach, FL, had no way to keep a record of the clients who called, how long they spoke, and the matters that were discussed devised—crucial to her business as she charges her clients by the hour. She designed a mobile app that prompts her after a call is over to answer whether the call is billable and records the details of the call.

The app, which took 1000 hours and $7000 to build has already shown a good return on investment by helping her bill more than $8000 she would have otherwise missed. Now Lynne doesn’t have to remember details of every call and billing clients correctly is quick and reliable.

Consider what mobile payment processing can do for your business.

How Mobile Payment Processing Works
Unlike traditional payment processing which is connected to a physical terminal, mobile payment processing can be carried out wherever there’s a mobile device. Merchants need to buy a card reader and download the necessary software or app from the mobile payment processing company.

The app stores all pertinent data related to the customer. The card reader has the capability of reading the magnetic stripe on the bottom of credit cards. To receive a payment, the card is swiped through the card reader attached to the mobile device and the processing is very much similar to the regular credit card payment processing.

In another slightly different method, the customer accesses the URL of the mobile payment processing company on his mobile device, logs in, makes a payment by entering relevant details such as credit card number and amount to be paid. The customer then receives a notification confirming whether the transaction is successful or not. In both these scenarios, the app or software relays a confirmation to the merchant and the consumer about the success, or otherwise, of the transaction.

Relax! Mobile Payment Processing Can Work for Your Business!
Even with all these technological innovations, many business owners and consumers have their share of concerns and are apprehensive whether mobile payment processing is the right thing to do. A major concern customers have is whether it’s a secure way of carrying out a monetary transaction.

Safety: Credit card transactions carried out over a mobile device are just as secure as using your credit card the conventional way. For a customer, it’s in fact safer than using your credit card to make a payment, because when you make a mobile payment, your mobile device is always within sight of you, unlike a credit card which usually disappears for a few minutes till the merchant returns it after swiping it at the card terminal, like in a restaurant. Services which offer mobile payment methods adhere to stringent norms about safeguarding consumer information.
Some merchants wonder whether they’ll require a steep learning curve to switch over to this new technology. The truth is processing mobile payments is fairly easy, once you get the hang of it. If you look back twenty years, people were not accustomed to using credit cards and instead preferred paying by cash. But times have changed. Most customers prefer to use plastic money than paper money. And that’s what will happen with mobile payments too. Over the next few years, people will stop carrying credit cards in their wallets, and prefer to pay by mobile, because that’s a device almost everyone has on him or her.
Benefits of Mobile Technology for Payment Processing
Here’s how moving away from the traditional way of payment processing will favorably impact different kinds of businesses:

Businesses like plumbers, courier delivery services, pizza delivery, and even shops at fairs or trade shows can invest in mobile payment methods. These businesses can accept payments from customers on-site without having to prepare an invoice and wait for the payment because these mobile devices with the attached card readers can be carried wherever the merchant goes. It also does away with customers paying by checks which is often not the preferred mode of payment for many businesses.
Using mobile payment processing can help business owners track customer demands. It’s easy to capture information that lets owners keep a track of inventory and customer trends. For example, automating inventory may help a bakery or deli owner realize that customers prefer certain types of sandwiches on particular days and stock more of that particular item on those days. This is a great way to understand customer behavior and boost sales and increase customer base.
Some mobile payment processing services don’t charge transaction fees. Thus businesses can save money by using vendors who don’t charge dime-a-dozen credit card fees. LevelUp, for instance, doesn’t charge any interchange fees. Of course, each vendor has a different payment structure, so you need to find out which payment processing services best meet your business requirements.
Paying using a mobile device is quicker than paying traditionally standing in line at a checkout counter. An excellent example would be Starbucks, which has teamed up with Square, a mobile payment processing company. Customers need to download the Square app on their mobile device, and whenever they purchase anything at Starbucks, they just make a payment through their mobile phones or tablets, without having to stand in queue at the cashier. This method helps businesses accommodate more customers in a shorter time frame. It makes your customers happy because they don’t have to wait for the least favorite part of the process – paying, and lets you increase your profit margins by tending to more patrons during rush hours.
Does the concept of accepting payments via mobile appeal to you? It can be tough deciding upon a payment processing vendor so a good way to begin would be by reading merchant reviews on review websites. It’ll help you understand top ranked providers, compare the services they provide, and how merchants have rated them.

The ability to accept payments from customers from virtually anywhere opens up a lot of possibilities for businesses. It helps build a solid customer base because it means merchants can do business from anywhere! Of course, brick and mortar establishments which have always used traditional credit card payment methods may not feel the need to switch to mobile payment processing method. Every business has varying needs, so it’s up to the merchant to decide when and whether to switch over to this emerging trend.