What are Omnichannel Payments?
Omnichannel payments is a big phrase for what essentially means the ability to use one solution platform to accept payments from customers any way they want to pay: in-person, online, in a shopping cart, via email or postal mail, over the phone, on a mobile device, or as part of recurring payment and subscription plans.
Omnichannel payments have accelerated since 2020 as consumers and businesses pivoted to digital and remote interactions, which include contactless payments, digital wallets (i.e. Apple Pay, Google Pay), curbside servicing, buy online pickup in-store (BOPIS), and remote billing and invoicing.
Nine out of 10 consumers want omnichannel service. People expect businesses of all types to provide a consistent customer payment experience across all channels. Let’s take a closer look at payment acceptance channels, the benefits of omnichannel acceptance, and important considerations when evaluating providers.
What is an Omnichannel Payments Platform?
An omnichannel processing solution accepts payments presented any way, through one payment provider. All transactions are consolidated in a cloud-connected management portal for batch management and settlement.
Here are the most common ways that PayJunction customers accept payments using our omnichannel payments platform:
In-person: Connect a customer-facing Smart Terminal to accept payments made via insert, swipe or tap of a card, phone or wearable device. This speeds checkout by eliminating the passing of cards between customers and staff. Go green by capturing digital signatures and receipts to pair with transaction history.
Online: Add a “Pay Now,” “Buy Now,” or “Donate Now” button to your websites, emails, apps, and digital statements/correspondence to direct customers to a secure Hosted Payment form — branded with your logo and colors — to enter payment details. Connect to your systems in minutes and eliminate the need to hire website developers or purchase third-party software. Plus, the data collected remains outside of PCI scope.
E-commerce: Accept e-commerce payments connected to a choice of leading integrated shopping carts for a seamless checkout experience. These range from small cart plugins to full-featured e-commerce platforms aligned to meet your business needs.
Remote billing and invoices: Email customers a request to pay an invoice from any browser-connected device where they can click a link to quickly and securely enter payment details. Customers appreciate the convenience, and it’s an efficient way to collect payments for curbside servicing.
Recurring/subscription payments: Set customers up on payment plans and securely store their card or bank account details on file to automatically collect scheduled payments. You’ll improve cash flow and eliminate monthly invoicing and collections processes.
Key-entry: Use a connected Smart Terminal or a Virtual Terminal to manually enter payment details from phone and mail-in orders. Be sure to enable Address Verification Service (AVS), a fraud-fighting measure supported by the card brands.
The Benefits of Omnichannel Payment Processing
Whether you operate a single location or run an enterprise with multiple locations, omnichannel payment processing improves the customer experience and streamlines payments acceptance. Customers appreciate time-saving payment methods like contactless payments, digital receipts and click-to-pay for invoice balances. And since all transactions are consolidated into one easy-to-access portal, staff can look up a customer’s history and email copies of receipts with just a few clicks.
In addition to a convenient payment experience for customers, businesses benefit from streamlined operations via one omnichannel payment processing platform like PayJunction by:
- Eliminating paper-based processes with a digital-forward solution. Work orders and invoices are linked with customer payment details and securely stored in the cloud, eliminating the need to manually print, store and retrieve paper receipts and records.
- Capturing all payments in-person, over the phone or online in one consolidated management console, simplifying end-of-day procedures, reconciliation and reporting across all departments and locations.
- Turning card details for card present and card not present transactions into secure tokens to be stored in customer records for future purchases, returns, and recurring billing. Actual data is converted to a string of characters that serves as a reference to the original data, and has no value if breached. It allows for the collection of sensitive payment details directly from customers in a secure manner and, in return, issues a token representing this information to process payments. By tokenizing sensitive data, liability is reduced, simplifying PCI DSS compliance requirements.
These productivity-boosting features reduce the complexity and time associated with payments, freeing staff to focus on important business initiatives and customer-facing activities.
Choosing an Omnichannel Payments Partner
Select a Merchant Services Provider that offers an all-in-one Virtual Terminal and Payment Gateway Platform. You’ll have one source for processing, reports and statements, and customer support. You will also eliminate the complexities and extra fees associated with managing multiple gateway vendors, payment providers, and PCI compliance validation.
Look for a provider with a robust and flexible platform that you can configure to meet the needs of your business. Make sure you can configure user access rights for audit and compliance control. Look for a solution that:
- Tracks each payment from checkout, to research, to reconciliation.
- Allows you to proactively analyze financial data and gain insights into customer trends across departments and locations for better-informed decisions.
- Gain visibility into system access, user roles, and duty separation in the payment processes to mitigate risk.
If you are interested in integrating payments with your existing POS systems, choose a provider that removes extra middleware software and allows your POS provider to easily interface via developer-friendly APIs. Integrated systems create a unified platform that allows payment information to automatically flow directly from your POS software to a cloud-connected terminal for payment processing, reporting and management. The result is increased productivity, a better customer experience and more time to devote to essential areas of your business.
A recent time study by PayJunction shows how businesses can save up to 29 hours per month by streamlining processes—from checkout, to reconciliation, reporting, and management—freeing you and your employees to focus on activities that return value to the business.
Ready for an omnichannel payments solution at your business?
