Credit Card Alternative Payment Types
Alternative payment solutions are payment methods merchants can offer to their consumers that don't require the use of one of the major credit card associations.
DID YOU KNOW
Todays consumer doesn't just shop online with their credit card, more and more online shoppers are becoming familiar with alternative payment methods, and many prefer them to credit cards.
Merchants that go from only accepting credit cards to adding the most popular alternative payment method, PayPal, can realize substantial gains in their sales conversion. Many customers prefer alternative payments as they can offer enhanced security, better payment terms and more convenience.
However, there are several different types of alternative payments and many different alternative payment providers. The benefits of using any one particular alternative payment will vary greatly depending on the region and vertical a merchant operates in.
Alternative payment solutions are payment methods merchants can offer to their consumers that don't require the use of one of the major credit card associations. There are a number of reasons why merchants and consumers are looking into alternative payment types. Fundamentally the market drivers are cost, security/trust and ease of use. Alternative payments come in many different forms, from the ubiquitous PayPal to new and emerging payment types.
To read about each of the different types of alternative payments simply select it's link below:
Direct Debit and ACH
Payment Aggregators
Credit Terms Payment Alternatives
Cash Alternatives
Advertising Alternatives
Mobile Payments
Invoice Payments
The most well known alternative payment type is PayPal, which has grown exponentially and is becoming very much a mainstream payment method. If you research the market there are a lot of providers out there all competing for mindshare and marketshare. The risk, for any merchant when adopting a payment type, is that it will eventually die on the vine due to lack of adoption.
There are a number of reasons why merchants and consumers are looking into alternative payment types. Fundamentally the market drivers are:
Trust & Security
Consumers buying items online overwhelmingly prefer to pay by credit card today, but there are segments of consumers that do prefer to pay using something other than their credit card. Why? For some consumers, they still don't feel comfortable using their credit card to make a purchase online. Or, in some cases they may not feel comfortable giving their credit card information to a particular merchant.
Cost
Merchants pay a lot to accept credit card online, and when you add in the additional burden of fraud protection, these costs can be very significant. So when a merchant is looking at a potential new payment type, that is cheaper than credit cards, or it provides fraud protection, the financial savings can really change the bottom-line.
Ease of Use
More and more consumers are becoming power-buyers on the web, and for these consumers any new tool that speeds up the checkout process is considered very "cool". Some alternative payment types will allow the merchant to streamline the checkout process, in some cases making it as simple as a login for the consumer; increasing the stickiness of the site, and the satisfaction of the consumer.