Choosing the best payment solutions from credit card processors may seem like an overwhelming task with so many options to choose from. However, it doesn’t need to be. Familiarizing yourself with the basics of different payment channels and their benefits is a great place to start. Here’s what you need to know to find the best payment solutions for your company’s credit card processing needs.
What is a Payment Channel?
A payment channel is any way that a customer can make a payment, or anywhere that the merchant might accept a payment. Payment channels are specifically associated with how the payment is made and include the following:
Payment Channels & Best Payment Processing Solutions For Your Business
Having multiple payment channels may not be necessary early on, but in order to pick the best payment solutions as your business grows it will be important to expand your channels. Depending on your business you may need to start with a physical POS (point of sale) system, while someone in the digital space may need to focus on mobile payments.
This guide will help you find the best payment solutions and channel that will best fit your business.
In-Person Payment Processing
In-Person payments can utilize a physical or virtual POS system to take customers’ payments inside your business. Some Physical POS systems can serve a dual purpose as a terminal, giving customers the ability to swipe directly through a single piece of hardware. Others allow you greater flexibility, enabling you to easily connect terminals via a Bluetooth device. The right terminal expands payment options for customers, allowing them to dip, tap, or use Apple Pay and Google Pay to make payments.
Physical POS Terminal
The physical POS is a traditional payment channel, supported on a cash register, where customers pay right inside your store.
Stax offers two forms of POS retail solutions for business owners. The first are standard EMV smart terminals, a simple countertop terminal solution, the second is a Mobile Checkout POS system.
Mobile Checkout POS systems are an all-in-one point of sale system right at your fingertips. When collecting customer payments, you are even able to use a tablet, or phone device to securely process sales from any location.
Virtual Terminals
A virtual terminal gives you the power to process and manage over the phone and face-to-face transactions in real-time. Because there’s no need for a physical or traditional credit card terminal, a virtual terminal uses software to process transactions. This solution is generally for merchants who don’t have a brick-and-mortar business and often take customer information over the phone or online.
The Stax platform offers companies the ability to process and manage telephone and face-to-face transactions giving you the best payment solutions. It is great for service-based companies, B2B companies, or anyone who does recurring billing. As long as you have an Internet connection, you can process payments directly through Stax. All transactions are securely tokenized and are compliant for your best payment solutions.
Businesses can also continue using their existing POS systems as the Stax platform seamlessly integrates with most terminals.
eCommerce Payment Processing
For businesses looking to process payments through their website or create an online shopping store, eCommerce payments solution allows you to expand purchasing capabilities online. Businesses can collect and manage payment transactions online without the need for a physical or traditional credit card terminal.
Stax’ digital payment solutions and eCommerce tools like an online shopping cart or webhooks allow businesses to engage digitally with even more customers. Stax also supports the ability for businesses to build their own or integrate with a provider like Authorize.net for an eCommerce shopping cart.
Mobile Payment Processing
Mobile payments are vital for businesses that are on the go or those that want to keep hardware to a minimum. Many businesses find using mobile payments works better and faster for them in comparison to physical POS systems. This can be a great solution for service professionals that operate in the field and need to accept payments on location.
Stax offers mobile readers for businesses looking to accept payments in any environment. Additionally, being able to turn your phone or tablet into a mobile POS system is also a benefit that can be easily overlooked by many businesses. With the Stax iOS and Android app, businesses can turn any mobile device into a handheld POS and take payments, send invoices, and view reports from anywhere. You can also monitor and manage business in real-time, with the ability to quickly view daily, weekly, and monthly sales reports.
Contactless Payments
Contactless payment devices allow businesses to accept in-person payments without the need for physical contact. From Text2Pay to touch-free terminals, you can quickly and safely process payments on the go.
Contactless by Stax gives you immediate access to tools that can pair perfectly with your online shopping cart. Offering Text2Pay gives customers the ability to pay for their purchase in just a few taps from wherever they are. Businesses can personalize their customer’s experience by answering questions and making updates to an order via text.
All of these payment channels and more are available for businesses to easily collect payments from customers and maximize their revenue.
To find the best payment solutions for your business compare Stax integrated payment platform and use whichever payment channels serve best regardless of where you plan on taking payments.
To learn more about how the Stax all-in-one platform can help your business, fill out the form below to request a savings estimate today.
