Choosing a Payment Solution for a Marketplace Website

If you need a payment processing solution for your online digital marketing campaign, then the best choice for you would be Shopify Payments (and other major web-based services like Square and PayPal). But as an entrepreneur looking to get started with it is where I’d go first.

What Is A Credit Card Company?

A credit card company or any payments software provider provides a service to users with internet access, which allows them to earn revenue from your content. These are used by retailers that want to offer their products and services at affordable rates. This includes using coupons for purchase of items in particular stores. As an example, eBay uses its own platform to buy some goods and then offers discounts on subsequent purchases. It has also made use of their technology platform to allow customers to send out free electronic payments to friends and family members who have not signed up for certain websites. With such huge popularity, these services should make a better option to start with if you’re an amateur website owner interested in making money or if you’re just looking for a way to keep track of purchases.

Types Of Cards Used By Them

In 2016 Shopify implemented Google’s Project Oxygen to develop Google Pay. You can set up shop on their site using this app on your mobile devices. They also provide a store locator feature for those interested in buying goods from their site. The only downside here is that the interface and the checkout process isn’t quite user friendly. So while getting started with the product would be great; it could become tedious once you start paying off the account balance every month.

To cater to modern customers, there are more options available with most companies where they provide a full range of payment solutions. Their cards are usually issued via Visa and Mastercard. Other issuers like American Express and Discover card come with additional charges per transaction. Below is a list of the major credit card companies that you can join and how many they offer:

Apple Pay — Apple has partnered up with Apple Pay to create contactless payments, allowing users to pay for everything using iPhone and iPad’s camera or Touch ID. There is no extra charge for accepting Apple Pay or adding your Apple ID, although each Apple device comes with its specific payment method. Some people are reluctant due to privacy concerns but Apple’s payment system will help eliminate such issues. In 2018, Apple Pay became part of iOS 14, along with Siri, HomeKit and FaceID.

Google Pay — Google Pay supports over 130 countries including India, Mexico and Bangladesh. Most countries allow merchants to accept all major payment methods like credit cards, debit cards, ewallets and wire transfers. However, Google Pay requires users to add their phone to the same network so they don’t need to install another application. To launch a new transaction in the US (or anywhere else) is simple. On Android users will have to use either Gmail or Yahoo Pay & Apple Pay to do it.

Google Wallet — Google wallet is basically another form of Google Pay as well as providing similar features like location tracking and push notifications. It doesn’t support different types of smartphones apart from basic ones though. Apart from being a reliable one to use and convenient to carry around, it works smoothly without having many features.

NFC-Enabled Money Transfer Terminals — NFC-enabled TFTs have been around since 2013, allowing easy transfer of money between two terminals as well as the ability of sending funds across several networks. While there are lots of services that offer their respective NFC-enabled wallets, few offer TFT, especially when it comes to banks. Still, having the capability to use TFT is something that needs to be explored especially if your business runs multiple locations. To start making money, simply scan QR codes to verify that you have NFC enabled hardware for both your bank cards and shopping cart. Then you’ll receive a confirmation from the merchant and can complete the transaction.

PayPal Payments Service – Paypal is essentially one of the oldest providers to utilize cryptocurrencies. They have several products that include instant payments, B2B payments and even individual transactions. Since they were founded in 1998, they have also developed their native card reader, the PayPal chip and also introduced their Fintech (Finest) lending platform called Zelle. Aside from the physical network that enables payments, the card reader itself will allow you to receive alerts whenever someone tries to make a transaction in PayPal. Once they were able to link PayPal to all other credit cards, the merchant will have to use one of theirs for the payment. Even with such an open platform, I’d recommend taking up a role in managing your accounts first before proceeding with PayPal.

Other Solutions

Since almost all services provided by these companies are cloud-based, you can use the one that suits your budget or even choose your own preferred application that suits your taste. This would be especially beneficial to start with when starting a small business. Here are some other options that you should explore in comparison to the above-mentioned options:

Bitcoins — A popular alternative to Bitcoin for cryptocurrency trading and money transfer as well as general banking is Bitcoins. Though it’s still very nascent and untested due to lack of regulation, it’s a good option for merchants who have little money to invest in anything aside from paying online for things like sales and orders. Also, since the minimum age to purchase Bitcoins is 16 years old in Australia, it is definitely advisable to keep in mind the legal repercussions. Although it’s considered illegal to pay someone over 17 years old for services, it is legal in Europe and Japan.

Accepting bitcoins as payment is quick and easy too. Notifications on WhatsApp, Telegram, Facebook group, etc., are used to facilitate this transaction. As far as safety and security goes, it’s pretty safe as long as you don’t cheat others nor hack into the bitcoin wallet on the Internet. It might seem like a hassle to change banks but doing so is fairly easy. Just try to avoid dealing with hackers all together if you can. Another benefit of choosing this services is its low-cost of operation. With a monthly membership fee of $3.99 USD, you don’t need to worry about what kind of credit cards the seller accepts until you’re ready to accept bitcoin as payment.

PayPal E-Commerce— Paypal has always been associated with Amazon, as the official payment gateway for their e-commerce sites. Unlike Walmart and Target, they don’t have brick and mortar stores that you can visit. So they have kept most of their focus on e-commerce. One major advantage that PayPal has over its competitors is that it allows for users to take orders through PayPal directly while Amazon has to rely mainly on third parties like Etsy, Magento and Bigpoint to do the work.

With all this technological advancement, it’s hard to imagine it’s not possible for big businesses to stay afloat through digital marketing. Yes, the market might be saturated, but with proper planning and execution, any business can succeed by promoting their brand through social media, email campaigns and print publications. And if you know how to manage the right tools, it wouldn’t hurt to get a professional accountant. No matter where you are headed regarding finding payment solutions, Shopify are the platforms to consider because you only need to sign up.