Best Payment Processing? For Small Business, it Depends on One Thing.

If you want to know what the best payment processing for small business is, the question you have to ask first is “who are the customers?” If it’s your small business, payment processing works best when you understand where your customers are, where they’re from, and how they want to pay you.

What is a Payment Processor?

We looked at this topic last year from a credit card processing perspective, but the players in a transaction are essentially the same for any payment method:

• The seller: That’s you, accepting payment in person, over the phone and/or online.
  
  
• The payer: That’s your customer.
  
  
• The acquiring and issuing banks: The former is your bank. The latter is the cardholder’s bank.
  
  
• The payment network: These are the credit card brands you know, the digital wallets you know (like Apple Pay, Google Pay, Venmo and PayPal) and the international payment methods you might not know, like Alipay and WeChat Pay from China.
  
  
• The payment processor: The firm that facilitates the payment and routes the funds from the buyer to the seller.

Considerations when evaluating the best payment processors for any small business.

You’ll be presented with many options from around the world. As you review them, look into these areas:

Costs

Payment processing expenses could include transaction fees, equipment rentals and gateway charges.

Security

Some payment processors are better at preventing fraud than others, making you (their customer) more susceptible to crime or breaches.

Reliability

Like with security, some payment processors are less glitchy than others, be it due to hardware or connectivity. Unreliability can lead to unsatisfied customers and maybe even lost sales.

Refunds

An easy refund protocol is important for small business owners because time is always an issue. Making customers wait for their refund can damage brand affinity.

Integration

A good payment processor will integrate well with your accounting and inventory systems. An inferior processor can create inefficiencies and lead to errors in record-keeping.

For your small business, the best payment processing accepts global methods.

It hasn’t been that long since cash, credit cards, cheques and traveler’s cheques were the only payment options in North America. Then came debit, followed by digital wallets like Apple Pay and Google Wallet. Now, as we move into a hyper-global economy where people and commerce both move with equal ease, accepting international payments has become more important for retailers.

The Canadian population grew by over a million people in the last two years, with StatCan reporting that 97.6% of that growth was fueled by immigration. The situation in the US is similar where immigration rates are the highest they’ve been in 20+ years.

If you’re one of the few retailers that give these new Canadians a soft landing by accepting the payment method they’re accustomed to, they’re much more likely to choose you over a competitor. And retaining an existing customer is five to seven times less expensive than acquiring a new one.

The Best Payment Processing for Your Small Business?

More than half of Canadian consumers abandon a purchase if they can’t use their preferred payment methods. And new Canadians will be no different, especially if they know of an alternative vendor that does accept their preferred payment method.

With this in mind, as you research the best payment processing for your small business, ask yourself these questions:

Do you have a global customer base?

And what percentage of your international prospects would abandon you for a competitor that offers their preferred payment method? For example, most citizens of China use Alipay or WeChat Pay as their preferred payment method, as these trusted e-wallet apps connect to their bank accounts back home. If you have Chinese customers and want more of them, accepting either of these two payment methods would be a good idea, or better yet – both!

Do you have an immigrant customer base?

And for roughly how long have they been here? This matters for two reasons: comfort and affinity. The less time an immigrant has been in their new home, the more comfort they’ll derive from the familiarity of home; and this includes payment methods. So, if given a choice, they’ll most likely go with a familiar payment method. Also, the less time they’ve been here, the less likely they are to have found their “go-to” places. If you get them into your store first and deliver a quality experience, they’re more likely to keep visiting you and forego even searching for alternatives.

Choosing the best payment processing for your small business.

If you equally prioritize transaction speed and payment method choice in a payment processing solution for your small business, OTT Pay would be your best bet — especially because our solution automatically converts your customer’s payment into American or Canadian dollars. We can provide you with a POS terminal and e-Commerce solutions to accept all kinds of payment methods using an all-in-one World of Payments™ solution. Unlock new markets and grow your business with OTT Pay.