How to Accept Payments Online: 6 Methods to Use in 2024

Whether you sell products or services online, there's no doubt that your business is exposed to more people on the internet. According to the research, 71% of businesses worldwide have a website. This number reflects the trends in online presence for many businesses.

Whether in the form of ecommerce or online services, customers engage more and more online, making your website a valuable asset to accept payments for your business.

No matter the size of your business, accepting payments online will create many opportunities. Not only will your sales increase, but you will also satisfy and retain your customers.

This post explores the 6 options you can use to accept payments online in 2023 and helps you understand the benefits and challenges you should know about when implementing them.

How Does Online Payment Processing Work?

When a customer makes an online purchase from an ecommerce store, a payment processor is required to accept online payments.

The methods used can be different for each business. For instance, accepting fast payments may only require a payment service provider or aggregator. However, if a business aims to have more control and customization, they may consider a merchant account.

Therefore, understanding which payment methods to accept online can be crucial for your business.

💡 Tip: Review the compatibility of your website host before adding a payment method to your website.

6 Ways to Accept Online Payments

In 2023, the Digital Commerce market is projected to reach $1.3 billion transaction value in the US alone, and this segment is exponentially growing.

So, it's essential that your business is able to accept payments online seamlessly, providing your customers with a variety of easy and convenient options to choose from.

Here are six different ways to accept online payments in 2023.

1. Credit and Debit Cards

The first and most common way to accept payments online is by allowing your customers to pay with their credit and debit cards.

As mentioned earlier, you will need to set up a merchant account to receive credit and debit card payments on your website. You should also consider the most ideal options for your business, including factors such as processing time, merchant account flexibility, regional support, rewards, and more.

Choosing widely accepted providers, such as VISA or Mastercard®, can help you streamline your business payment process while satisfying your customer's needs.

2. Online Payments Options

Using online payment options such as direct debit through a bank account can be a direct approach to accepting payments online.

You can receive your payments through either electronic checks (eChecks) or the ACH payment option.

eChecks works by enabling your customers to input their bank information, such as an account number, amount, or bank routing number, in an online payment form. On the other hand, an ACH payment is an Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) that allows your customers to make a direct deposit from one bank to another. Thus, with this method, your business will need to have a receiving bank account.

Though these two methods offer an efficient, fast, and secure way to make online payments, they may not be the most suitable method to integrate if you run an ecommerce store.

📖 Read more: See how ACH payments work - Explore the different types of ACH payments, benefits, and how to process an ACH payment.

3. Mobile Payments

For many businesses, accepting mobile payments is becoming more common than ever before. Due to the seamless and fast options, many customers are becoming more accustomed to using mobile payments. This also accounts to the demographics change in the use mobile payments.

Some of the most popular mobile payment options used in 2023 include Apple Pay, Google Pay, Venmo, Cash App, Zelle, and Alipay.

A report suggests that Mobile POS Payments market will amount to 1.94 billion users by 2027, and this is due to several reasons. For instance, a customer can make contactless payments to your business and immediately get an email confirmation of a receipt from your store.

Additionally, more than 90% of these mobile payment options also provide other useful features such as cash flow management, reporting, and account management, and for some, you can even send invoices from an app.

4. Payment Gateways

Adding a payment gateway will provide your online store with a more flexible option for payments from both consumers and your business.

Payment gateways are great for many types of online businesses, and they are also simple to set up.

Let's take a look at some of the payment gateways you can implement:

PayPal

PayPal is widely used to accept payments online by many organizations around the world. With its credibility, this payment gateway is pretty simple to use and contains all the basic features an online business will need, such as contactless payment checkout. It also supports invoice payments from your customers.

Best for: All types of business models

Fees: No monthly or setup fees

Online transaction fees: 2.9% plus 30 cents per transaction, which is the same amount for the invoice payment feature.

Stripe

Connecting Stripe to your website is simple, and this payment gateway offers a customizable feature that you can embed within the checkout system for your website without any redirection. It also offers features such as 'Stripe Billing' for one-off and subscription-based payments.

Best for: Businesses with a subscription model

Fees: No monthly or setup fees

Online transaction fees: 2.9% plus 30 cents per transaction, whereas the Billing feature is free for the first $1 million in revenue, then 0.4% afterwards.

Essentially, using payment gateways can benefit your business in many ways while also keeping your customers close to your payment page.

📱 Are you a small business looking to integrate payment gateways on your website? Check out 5 of the best payment gateways to use in 2023

5. Click-to-Pay Invoices

This method of accepting payment on your website is particularly useful for complex business-to-business transactions.

Many customers still prefer invoice payment due to the ability to view transactions in detail while also getting a receipt online. Additionally, businesses can set up an automated email that sends an invoice to their customers directly and, in turn, records the payment in the system securely.

If you're a small business, it can be time-consuming to create custom invoices for each of your customers. For this reason, many businesses use automated invoicing software.

However, if your business is on a budget, consider using tools like an invoice generator. Statrys offers a free invoice generator tool that is easy to use and can save your business plenty of time.

6. Recurring Billing

Another popular way to get paid online is through recurring billing, and this method is especially great if your business is based on a subscription model.

Keep in mind that invoicing and billing are two different things. So if you run a business that requires your customers to make payments on a monthly or yearly basis, recurring billing will automatically collect payments based on your customers payment methods.

Benefits of Accepting Online Payments

Running a business in a digital world today requires you to provide your customers with the most convenient ways to make payments online.

Regardless of what your business offers, there are many benefits you can achieve by accepting payments online.

• Get paid fast and on time: With subscription, invoicing, and billing, you are almost guaranteed to get paid efficiently, and more importantly, the payments are done on time.
• Improves customer retention: Online payment gateways and mobile payments are convenient for most customers and are mostly the preferred methods. It helps keep your customers on the checkout page, and your business can get paid with a tap of a finger. This establishes an ideal experience for your customers and improves retention.

Drawbacks of Accepting Online Payments

With strength, there are also weaknesses. Let's take a look at some of the challenges you might face when accepting payments online for some methods.

• Fees: Some Online payment options, like payment gateways, can have transaction fees for when you reach their set limits or for payments that require an intermediary bank to process your payments. Thus, you may lose some of your revenues.
• Concerns over data: This is not a security concern over payments you accept online. However, it is more about the information you receive or the data you collect from your customers. These can be sensitive data, and the responsibility of keeping them securely will depend on your business's data management.

Bottom Line

With these payment methods, you can expect your business to thrive in the right direction. With fewer consumers shopping and doing business in brick-and-mortar stores, these options will be invaluable for your business in the years to come.

All of the payment options mentioned in this post are seamless and effective, which will benefit your customers in a variety of ways. Nevertheless, it's also important to consider what your business sells and take advantage of the best options possible by understanding the benefits and challenges you may come across before you decide to implement them.