Payment Gateways Explained

Payment gateways can do more than just process payments securely, they can grow your business in new and unexpected ways as well. 

For artisans and craftsmen (and women), the run-up to Christmas is peak season, and there’s a huge amount of money to be made in the Christmas markets that pop up in cities around the country as the festive season draws near. Being able to accept mobile payments or take card transactions while you are there is a huge bonus that could put you above the competition. Not only does it give your customers choice and, possibly, draw in otherwise uninterested consumers, but having the use of a payment gateway can ensure that a larger portion of your takings is more secure. It means more choice and flexibility for your customers, yes, but it also means more information for you. 

Using this type of payment method is a great opportunity to get more details about your customers, such as their email addresses while emailing their payment receipt. It also means that you can link card reading hardware to your mobile phone or tablet and can make use of contactless methods like Apple Pay and accept PayPal or Venmo transactions, too. You can use resources like Townsquare by Square to find the best options. This allows you to join up your real-world and online world presence and encourage customers to come back and even bring others with them. 

Mobile Point Of Sale

Point of sale (POS) is the place or point where transactions are finalised. Traditionally this is at a desk using a cash register and possibly a card reader. Mobile point of sale is merely this but, as the name suggests, mobile. It takes the payment service to the customer and allows for mobile or contactless payments.

Traditional payment methods, such as cash continue to have their advantages. However, as more shops prepare for and offer mobile payments, as well as cash and card transactions these advantages are becoming less easy to see. The most obvious benefit of using cash is that you can easily set yourself a spending limit and track what you’re spending as you go. However, willpower is still required to stop you from going to the cashpoint and withdrawing more cash. Most mobile banking apps, while they cannot give you will power do offer you the ability to easily track your spending when using your card. There are also contactless methods, such as Venmo (a unit of PayPal)  that offer the option of using pre-paid accounts or gift cards. These provide a measure of willpower for you as they need to be reloaded from another source once the balance has been used; it is certainly getting easier to avoid overspending using these types of payment methods. Contactless methods, such as those that use mobile pos, are also more secure than carrying large amounts of cash. This is because they require passwords, and are often held on devices that can be remotely disabled should they be stolen. It’s always comforting to know that no one else can spend your hard earned money, unless you let them.