Rapyd Payments: How To Accept Payments Online

Merchants must be able to offer and process the payment methods preferred by their customers.

Businesses need to invest in payment processing services that address the expectations of their customers today and in the future. There are a number of ways to accept payments online, including APIs, hosted checkout pages and plugins.

Some are quick and easy to set up, and require no coding, while others are more sophisticated and require developers to create customized user experiences. In addition to the technology used to accept payments, merchants need to ensure that they present preferred local payment methods to their customers wherever they are located. Customer payment preferences vary significantly around the world and credit cards are only used for about 23% of transactions.

How To Accept Payments Online

Share of selected payment methods as a percentage of total ecommerce transaction volume worldwide in 2020, with a forecast for 2024

How to Add A Checkout Solution To Your Website

An Online Payment Gateway allows merchants to accept credit card payments and other payment types on their ecommerce site. It collects customer and payment information and manages secure online payment processing. Merchants use payment gateways to ensure that customers, wherever they are located, are offered their preferred payment method during checkout and enjoy a simple and frictionless experience that increases cart conversions.

There are a number of different approaches to accepting payments online. These include options that are fast and user-friendly and options that let developers create custom experiences.

Rapyd offers payment methods such as cards, cash, bank transfers and ewallets in 100+ countries.

Hosted Checkout

For merchants with an online store, the addition of Rapyd’s Hosted Checkout Page and Toolkit provides a fast, low-code solution to accept credit card payments online and accept locally preferred payments worldwide. Hosted checkout provides a secure and fully compliant all-in-one solution that includes fraud protection, single currency settlement and foreign exchange.

eCommerce Plugins

Rapyd offers plugins for Magento, Shopify, Wix and WooCommerce that allow you to accept credit cards, bank transfers, ewallets and other local payment methods and to localize the options for each customer based on their location. You can get started quickly by creating your free Rapyd Account and using our step-by-step instructions to activate your plugin.

Many ecommerce platforms offer default methods to accept credit cards online. However, these default options limited what countries you can be located in and where you can accept payments from. They also lack support for many local payment methods that boost sales and improve conversion rates.

Online Payment API

APIs allow merchants to create a unique and customized experience for their online customers. This option does require development expertise. By using the Rapyd Collect API and SDKs you can integrate localized payment experiences into any site, app or checkout experience and enable a true omnichannel experience for customers.

Why Accept Credit Cards, Local and Alternative Payments Online?

Only 22.8% of online transactions were paid with credit cards in 2020 and that number is projected to decrease as ewallets, bank transfers, buy-now-pay-later, and other payment methods continue to grow in popularity. (Statista)

Preferences vary around the world and alternative payment methods provide customers with the convenience and choice they have come to expect. Businesses looking to expand into global markets need to understand consumers’ payment preferences and find an online payment solution that offers a wide range of payment options.

Benefits of Accepting Cards+ Alternative Payments:

• Increased sales worldwide – By offering customers the payment method they are most familiar with and comfortable using allows the business to expand across borders, grow an international customer base and increase sales and revenue.
• Enhanced customer experience – Shoppers appreciate the convenience of shopping online and have grown accustomed to paying immediately and using the payment methods they prefer. Merchants that offer alternative payment methods can gain an edge over competitors that only offer traditional forms of payment.
• Expanded reach – In markets across the Americas, Europe and Asia, local and alternative payment methods like local card schemes, ewallets, bank transfers and cash are critical. Localizing payment options for each market means that more customers can and will buy from you. But integrating multiple payment methods and customizing checkout experiences is slow and expensive. With Rapyd you can accept credit cards online and reach over 4 billion consumers worldwide that don’t use cards.

What Online Payment Methods Should Merchants Accept?

Merchants have a number of options when it comes to collecting payments from online customers in their target markets. 

Evaluating an online payment processing service should start with understanding the payment methods that your customers use. A payment solution should accept preferred payment methods in every market where the business has customers. This delivers a localized experience that creates trust and builds loyalty. Here is an overview of popular payment methods businesses should look for.

Credit cards – As one of the most popular methods for making online payments, credit cards are widely used and highly trusted. Declined payment rates are higher when accepting credit cards internationally. To handle transactions from customers in other countries, merchants should use a card acquired with a local presence.

• Pros – fast, efficient, convenient
• Cons – fees, fraud, chargebacks,

Debit cards – Although debit cards look like credit cards, they function more like personal checks. Payment for a transaction is usually deducted from the bank account within a day or two.

• Pros –  Easy to obtain, convenient, widely accepted
• Cons –  No grace period, money taken from the account, more open to fraud

Bank Transfers – Bank transfers are ideal for customers that either do not have credit cards or do not want to use them online. A bank transfer can move money to and from bank accounts around the world. Retailers can provide consumers with a unique reference number and details of the bank account where they can make their payment – by telephone, mail or online.

• Pros –  available to all bank account owners, secure, no chargeback risk
• Cons –  fees, slow to process

eWallets – An ewallet can be linked to a debit card, credit card or bank account. Some ewallets also allow users to make cash deposits to a virtual account that is linked to the wallet without the need for a traditional bank account or credit card.  but mobile wallets such as GrabPay and AliPay can be topped up at participating retail outlets.

• Pros – convenient, secure (requires users to authorize every transaction)
• Cons – transaction fees, limited acceptability, requires a device (charged)

Cash (Via vouchers and over-the-counter cash acceptance networks) – Vouchers and over-the-counter cash payments can be accepted online at far less risk to the retailer than CODs. Voucher payment methods, combine online shopping and retail payments. During the checkout process, the customer is provided with a coupon or voucher. This coupon is brought to a retail outlet where it is scanned and the payment is made in cash. This option allows funds to be sent digitally to the merchant, who then ships the product, all verified by the store accepting the payment. Rapyd provides a worldwide network of cash acceptance locations that make it easy for merchants to accept cash for online transactions.

• Pros –  ideal for customers without bank accounts, and in developing markets
• Cons –  requires a network of retailers to coordinate payments

Additional Considerations

When merchants look to collect payments online from their customers, these are some of the additional considerations you need to understand and manage.

• Compliance – Compliance obligations vary from market to market and are subject to change. Merchants need to ensure that their online payment systems support their efforts to be compliant in the markets where they operate.
• Fraud Risk and Chargebacks – Unlike point-of-sale transactions, online transactions take place without the credit cards being presented by the buyer to the merchant. This makes them a target for chargeback fraud, but there are measures that businesses can take to protect themselves.
• Foreign Exchange and Settlement – Offering customers their preferred local payment options and currencies is an essential part of localization, reducing customer drop-off and increasing cart conversions. Merchants must be in a position to accept local currencies and be able to settle into the currency of their choice with cost-effective foreign exchange.

Sources:

Statista. “Share of Global Transaction Volume 2020 with projections to 2024.” Statista, Statista, Statista.com.

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