These days’ consumers use credit cards and debit cards to make purchases online and expect this process to be as easy as possible. This is one reason to save customer payment methods is a good idea. Whether it’s for a recurring utility or subscription billing, a one-time purchase, or payment for services already provided, nobody wants to have to re-enter all of their information over and over.
Consumers feel vulnerable the more times they have to give the same information, and with the many security breaches, they have every right to. It’s vital for merchants to let the consumer know their data is safe to be saved by them, and doing this offers them several other benefits.
Simplifies Recurring Payment Processing
The most obvious benefit of saving customer payment methods is that it simplifies the recurring payment process. It guarantees money from “Default Payment” customers because merchants use verified and confirmed credit/debit card data.
Believe it or not, some companies still process recurring payments in the old fashion way. They open the invoice to be paid, enter the customer’s payment information, process the payment, print the receipt/paid invoice to file, send a copy to the customer, and then move on to the next open invoice for which they already have the authorization to charge a card they have on file. Let’s also not forget what happens when they come across a card that declines or is expired; they have to chase down the cardholder and get a new card to put on file. This is not only a time-consuming process, it ultimately takes up file/office space and leaves highly sensitive customer information unsecured and available for theft.
Companies like PayWhirl handle this entire process for their customers and more. In a technology-driven world, you shouldn’t have to waste time processing payments in the old fashion way. That time should be used on more important things your business needs.
Businesses are figuring out ways to provide their products through a subscription business model because of its many benefits, including repeat customers and guaranteed revenue. For this business model to be beneficial, saving customers’ payment methods is crucial. It saves time and money when running payments for recurring invoices. It also saves file space and provides a higher level of security when you use a company like PayWhirl to handle all your payment processing needs.
Convenience
Saved payment information is essential for both consumers and merchants. Convenience is the number 1 driving factor in eCommerce. It reduces cart abandonment increasing conversions, and improving sales revenue. More than 1 in 4 U.S. shoppers intending to buy abandoned their cart because the check-out process was too long or complicated. Saving customer payment information helps eliminate this factor. In this era of eCommerce, competition for time is high. You need to be able to push customers through the process as quickly as possible. If you don’t, you risk losing them every second to a new notification they can receive. Accelerated checkout takes advantage of new technologies; it doesn’t make sense to have to re-enter the same information over and over across the internet. If your customer’s payment information is already saved and ready to be used, you reduce your cart abandonment rate.
Saved customer payment information makes it easy for customers to pay and is essential for increasing conversions and sales. Raising customer retention rates by 5% can increase profits by up to 95%. It’s also convenient for health care providers to collect their no-show fees, deductibles, and other monies owed; it’s a merchants’ safety net. PayWhirl is integrated with Shopify, including the newly launched Shopify Pay. This allows customers to save their personal information and payment details to check out in just 1 step on thousands of stores; even ones they are visiting for the first time. This technology allows customers to check out 3 times faster and can make conversion rates 4 times higher than usual.
Customer Service Factor
Saving customer payment information is also a vital customer service factor. According to Walker Consulting, 86% of consumers are willing to pay more for better customer experience. The future belongs to the experience around your product or service through each stage of sales funnel including and most importantly, the checkout process. If a customer can’t count on your brand for clear, descriptive product pages, secure checkout, and speedy delivery you’ve already fallen behind. Studies show that satisfied customers tell 9 other people about their positive experience, while dissatisfied customers are likely to talk about their negative experience with 22 other people. That’s 2.44 times more people that hear bad news.
“Personalization will be the differentiating factor in eCommerce and digital commerce going forward especially for multi-channel retailers and new entrants online,” says David Selinger CEO of RichRelevance. No customer satisfaction means no retention; customer satisfaction can make or break your business.
PayWhirl Customer Portal caters to the customer service experience so your customers can do everything from your website; i.e., securely manage their payment information, subscriptions, billing history; and allows them to browse available subscriptions and go through purchase funnels you set up.
Reasons to save customers’ payment information is a no brainer. It simplifies recurring billing, it’s convenient, and is an outstanding customer service factor; not to mention it brings your business into the new age of technology. All these points are essential in customer retention and conversions. So make sure you choose a safe, secure, and easy to use platform like PayWhirl for all your payment processing needs. Looking for more? Checkout this article with 10 reasons every business should offer subscriptions.
Please let us know if you have any questions. We are available through live chat on PayWhirl.com and via our support website at https://docs.paywhirl.com
