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With an upswing in the number of customers opting for digital payments, brands must overhaul their payment solutions that are not tedious to set up and are quick to implement.
According to a report by Statista, the volume of digital transactions in India ballooned to 40 billion in FY21 and the numbers are set to embark on an uphill ride from here.
The ever-growing number of digital transactions compels merchants to deploy an integrated payment software that automates payment collections and helps them scale.
As a result, some of the leading payment integration platforms offer a suite of automation features via payment links. A payment link is a securely generated link through which customers can make instant payments online. Businesses can reap immense benefits from automated payment links as they cut down the time taken to process online payments, seek recurring payments from returning customers, prevent cash flow disruption, and reduce overhead costs.
Simplify payment requests with Payment Links
Here’s how businesses can set payment links in just a few steps:
- Generate payment link through the dashboard or via API
- Share the payment link with the customers via Email, Whatsapp, SMS, or other messaging apps
- Collect instant payments via any online payment mode, including Net Banking, Credit/Debit card, UPI, eWallet, or Pay Later.
Customers can make the payment from their mobile phones at their convenience. Additionally, merchants gain peace of mind with flexible payment collection while customers experience a smooth checkout process.
How to automate online payments with Payment Links?
1. Automate Payment Collection & Reminders
eCommerce businesses usually have a dedicated team for collecting and identifying overdue or upcoming payments. These teams reach out to customers manually to collect payments that are either overdue or periodical.
However, merchants can take the smarter route via payment integration platforms to automate reminders, prompting customers to complete the payment.
Merchants can now generate payment links and notify customers in advance about upcoming dues. If the customer crosses the due date, they will receive multiple reminders via SMS, email, or other messaging platforms, compelling them to make the payment. On the payments link dashboard, merchants can also toggle the number of reminders and the intervals to send them.
Payment gateway providers also offer the alternative to disable payments for specific customers if the payment is made offline. Automating payment collection via payment links saves merchants valuable business hours from chasing collections with pre-set reminders at no extra cost.
2. Automate Bulk Payments
While processing a high volume of orders, invoicing for each order individually can be monotonous, time-consuming, and require a great deal of manual effort. Merchants can automate the payment collection process with payment links. Moreover, merchants can automate bulk payment links and alert all buyers in a single step simultaneously.
Zaakpay allows merchants to generate multiple payment links by uploading a file with order and customer details (in .csv or other specified formats) and notify customers in one go. Batch links can be integrated using payment link integration with different transaction types, like fixed and partial payments.
3. Streamline Partial Payments
When making large purchases, customers may find it more convenient to pay in parts rather than all at once. In the absence of payment link integration, merchants are required to record the installment amount, the amount due and their corresponding dates manually. Hence, a need to streamline partial payment arises.
To streamline partial payments via payment links, merchants only need to enter details at the time of link creation. Meanwhile, the automation flow handles monitoring the balance amount and following up with customers at regular intervals.
For example, while booking a hotel for vacation, the customer can pay the initial booking amount in partial fulfillment of their order and then pay the remaining amount later or in installments, using the same payment link. Each installment is recorded and tracked in the merchant’s payment dashboard until fully paid, so merchants have a clear view of the transaction at every step.
4. Simplify Variable Payments
In some cases where the amount to be paid is not fixed beforehand, merchants can simplify the invoicing process with payment links. Generate payment links by leaving the ‘amount’ field to be filled by the customer to enter the amount and pay as per their preference.
Merchants also can set a minimum and maximum limit to accept payments. This feature is particularly beneficial for collecting payments on behalf of crowdfunded campaigns and charity organizations.
5. Automatic Tracking & Analytics
Allow simple payment reconciliation with a dynamic dashboard that automatically tracks all payment links shared with customers. Using automatic tracking, businesses can generate payment links through the payment gateway dashboard or API. In addition to this, businesses can also pick the channel to notify customers, and receive automatic updates on their dashboard. At the touch of a finger, merchants can view all transactions, notify payment status, and monitor payments in real-time.
6. Branded Checkout Experience
Enable seamless checkout for your customers with effortless customization on the payment page to match brand colours and logo with payment links. With minimal edits on pre-designed templates, merchants can start accepting payments on their webpage within 24 hours.
For offline and online businesses alike, payment links can easily merge with other business operations.
7. Easy Email Invoicing
Creating invoices and requesting prompt payments doesn’t have to be complicated and time-consuming. With the customer’s invoice number and other details, merchants can compose invoice emails with embedded payment links. Businesses can use an array of ready-to-use email templates or personalize the template as per their requirement.
To encourage customers to pay on time, merchants can schedule email reminders to be sent periodically ahead of upcoming due dates. Each email payment link is mapped to a unique invoice number recorded on the merchant dashboard, allowing sellers to see pending payments.
With payment link integration platforms, email payments need minimal manual effort to automate the payment flow.
Business Use Cases:-
1. Small Businesses
For startups or solo entrepreneurs that may not have a website or app, payment links are the easiest way to start accepting payments online.
2. Social Media Businesses
For businesses that run on a social network, payment links can be shared with the customers via social media apps such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. It facilitates swift order placement and checkout that can be set up with minimal configuration.
3. Utility Bill Payment
Payments for utility bills such as electricity bills, phone, gas, or insurance premiums can be collected by billers using automated payment links.
4. Alternate Payments
As more customers shift to cashless transactions, payment links and QR codes are the ideal alternatives to cash-on-delivery (COD) and point-of-sale (POS) transactions at physical stores. Customers can make the payment through the link using any online payment mode at the time of delivery.
5. Custom Offers
Sellers and vendors can offer discounts through payment links to motivate customers to settle the payment before the order is shipped.
Conclusion
Leading payment link integration platforms offer many features to automate the payment flow, such as payment links, at no extra cost. Pre-set reminders and link tracking features give merchants a more refined view of all transactions. Businesses can leverage such platforms to eliminate manual billing and fast-track the collection process.
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