For better or for worse, the ‘New Normal’ is here to stay. The 2020 pandemic led to a long series of shifts in life, including the way businesses operate today. Contactless payments have since been embraced for safety and sanitation purposes.

This change has raised a lot of concerns between both businesses and customers. That’s why owners have to take time to think about the best ways to implement new payment methods.

In fact, well-suited payment processing methods positively affect businesses, including improving customer experience, accelerating revenue growth, and raising customer retention. Various modes of payment influence customers’ decisions to return to the same vendor, including zero fee processing, an innovation many people are welcoming.

Here are some payment processing tips businesses should know in navigating the new normal

1. Give Attention To Customer Service

On one hand, the New Normal has made customers very cautious about how they get their goods and use their funds. On the other hand, many businesses still have to close a lot of gaps made by the recent crisis.

For them to accomplish this, they’re finding more ways to expand the customer experience they offer. As a business person, it’s imperative to understand your average customers’ needs so that you provide services that best suit them. New ways of payment may be just the thing they’re looking for.

Consider soft-launching a new payment method to see if it goes well with your client base. If you see an increase in their investment in your brand, the new method you chose may be a worthy development to build upon.

2. Stay Open To Altering Your Business Model

To thrive in the New Normal, you must accommodate the adjustments that come with it. Be open to the idea of altering your business in a way it benefits your customer and yourself.

Explore the various payment processing options and embrace those that fit well with your customers. You could shift from operating a physical to a virtual store where your customers can make purchases and payments online. This broadens your customer base and gives you more opportunities for establishing new client relationships.

3. Maximize On Online Shopping

This mode of getting products has become more pervasive in recent years. For this reason, many businesses have incorporated various digital payment processes. This way, customers who prefer making orders through their phones have a better opportunity to access your business website to purchase goods, provide all information needed for payment processing, and wait for their goods to be delivered. Take some time to research online shopping carts and find those that best suit your business.

4. Make Use Of Opportunities To Innovate

Like many large-scale paradigm shifts, the New Normal came with its share of challenges for businesses. Payment processing is one of the places where they are struggling.

As a business owner, you must be flexible, accept changes, and be alert to those that open up newer, better ways to meet client needs. Sit with other business owners in your niche and craft ways of complimenting one another to serve customers better. In the process, there’s an opportunity to land more customers while extending your professional networks.

5. Take Advantage Of The Latest Methods Of Payment Processing

When you hear that you have to explore new payment processing methods, you really have to go in on what the latest ones have to offer. The odds are great that you’ll find those that work well for your business.

Text-to-pay, also known as SMS payment, is one of these upcoming payment methods. In this one, customers receive a text message from their vendors with a short link that directs them to an online page to pay their invoices. They’re also provided with various payment options like bank transfers, pay platforms, or credit cards. It offers a level of convenience that today’s generation of consumers prefers.

6. Use Mobile Payment Processing Apps

Mobile processing apps are a sure way of accelerating payments because your salespeople can serve your customers from wherever they are. They can accept and process credit card payments by entering card numbers directly or swiping cards through external devices connected to their smart devices.

7.  Invest In Better Software For Internal Work

Your company is at an advantage if it uses the latest software to carry out various accounting processes, including invoicing. Doing this means a lot of your tasks get done automatically. In turn, that leaves you with more time, resources, and energy to pour into more vital operations.

8. Prioritize PCI Compliance

Meeting Payment Card Industry (PCI) regulations involves making sure that your payment processing provider is made responsible for your customer’s credit card data. Your payment processing service provider of choice must prove they’ve gone through exhaustive appraisal to ensure they adhere to the required standards. This covers you and your business from any potential liabilities.

9. Use Automated Clearing House (ACH)

An Automated Clearing House (ACH) is a network that organizes electronic payments and automatic money transfers between banks without credit cards, cash, or wire transfers. ACH is a sure bet for your company and your customers during the New Normal.

It typically works in the following steps:

• Customers authorize direct payments from their bank accounts to your company’s e-commerce website.
• Your company’s bank initiates a transaction.
• The Originating Depository Finacial Institution (ODFI) sends a payment request to your customer’s bank, also known as the Receiving Depository Financial Institution (RDFI).
• The RDFI confirms that your customer has enough funds and continues to process the payment.

10. Explore Payment Gateways

Payment gateways are third-party service providers that handle credit card payment processing for e-commerce websites. If you want to enhance efficiency in payment processing, speed, and encryption security, this option may be what you’re looking for.

Compare different gateways, such as PayPal, Stripe, or Square, to find the one that best suits your business.

11. Upgrade Communication Within Your Company

As forms of contact have shifted to the digital space, you should be invested in upgrading your communication methods within your business. After all, all departments within your company have to keep in touch as updates and trends are moving faster than before.

You can do this in various ways, including feedback meetings to discuss what worked well, what didn’t, and what can be improved. This helps the entire team understand business objectives and how best to achieve them. Constant communication also helps to foster innovative ideas, especially when you’re testing out new features like those for payment processing methods.

Never Wait To Adapt

Embracing new technology for tasks like payment processing will have its challenges. But in light of the dramatic shifts in the market today, you either learn to adapt or risk failing to meet your client base halfway. Research, compare, and talk to experts to make the best possible choices.

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