Top Advantages of Choosing a Local Payment Service Provider

Any merchant running an e-commerce website would undoubtedly need a Payment Service Provider (PSP) of some sort or the other. Payment service providers form an integral part of a business as they offer a wide range of solutions to improve the company growth. They help merchants to accept credit card or other forms of payments along with other services like risk management, transaction reconciliation and fraud protection.

With an overwhelming number of payment service providers in the market, choosing a one that meets your business needs can be difficult. As an online seller, it is worthwhile to choose a service provider who is local so that he understands you, your target audience and most importantly the local market. Here are the top advantages of using a local payment service provider.

1. Local Currency- A local payment service provider will have connections with all the leading local banks and this will enable you to accept local currencies on your website. Having a merchant account with a local acquiring bank can be arranged by a local PSP and this will enable you to accept payments from customers in local currencies.  Thus, this will not only make the customers happy but will also save you from paying conversion fees. Like for instance, a local PSP can help you to avoid converting your customer’s payments from EUR to KES. Through a local PSP, you can gain higher profits, as it will exempt you from having to deal with fluctuating exchange rates.

2. Local Currency- A local payment service provider will have connections with all the leading local banks and this will enable you to accept local currencies on your website. Having a merchant account with a local acquiring bank can be arranged by a local PSP and this will enable you to accept payments from customers in local currencies.  Thus, this will not only make the customers happy but will also save you from paying conversion fees. Like for instance, a local PSP can help you to avoid converting your customer’s payments from EUR to KES. Through a local PSP, you can gain higher profits, as it will exempt you from having to deal with fluctuating exchange rates.

3.  Local Customers- A local PSP can be beneficial for your local customers too. Through a local PSP, customers will be able to carry out their transactions in the local language. This will not only improve customer experience but will also ensure a smooth and fast payment process. Transactions in the local language will speed up the time of transaction which in turn will keep the customers happy and boost up company sales.

4. Local Payment Methods- A local PSP will not only have the complete information about the most preferred payment methods by the customers but will also have all these preferred methods already integrated into their payment platform. Accepting multiple payment methods will not only help increase the customer satisfaction but will also improve the customer retention rates. Hence, it is worth investing in local payment methods.

5. Local Fraud Risks- A local PSP will provide risk management services and protect your business from fraud. PSP will not only keep customer information secure but will be aware of the all the common local fraud risks and schemes. They will have the expertise to accurately identify any fraudulent transactions, which an International PSP may not be able to identify as they are not equipped and familiar with local types of fraud.

A Local PSP can use the knowledge and expertise to keep the business secure, at the same time keep the customers happy and satisfied, all at a lower cost than using an international PSP.

Forced Signups vs. Allowing Customers to Purchase in Guest Mode

When we talk about user experience, it goes beyond the commonly understood norms of having good experience on a website. User experience is all about how the visitors feel on your website till the completion of their tasks. So, it matters how smooth navigation is and how quickly you can find information about the products you're going to buy without being redirected or clicking deeper links. 

What is User Experience

User experience is not just about smooth navigation. It's the overall experience that we offer to a visitor or customer. So from searching, filtering and selecting the right product to checkout -- everything should be smooth and quick. User interface should be intuitive.

Don’t Create Barriers in The Way of Conversion 

While doing this you need to keep all of the customer types in mind. There are a few customers, who do not want to sign up for your website while purchasing a product. If you have a policy of creating barriers such as mandatory signup or sign in, you may lose a great chunk of sales. According to surveys, there are a lot of customers who do not want to sign in or sign up for a website before they buy a product online. 

Allow Your Customers to Buy in Guest Mode

People resist signing up for various reasons. They may not want to be bothered about their email inbox getting spammed or mobile messages flooding in. Many a times, customers do not wish to signup because they may not intend to buy from you in future. They would also want to test the quality and service you offer while buying in guest mode.

The only way to persuade such customers to signup is offering them good experience. We understand that you need to harvest important data about your customers, but that shouldn't be done at the cost of annoyance of your customer. If they want to buy something anonymously, let them do it. Harvesting email addresses and other credentials is important but not always necessary. 

You must arrange for guest checkout as an option. Allowing your customers to buy in guest mode is always a good idea. It speaks well about your user experience and people love to buy from such sites. It doesn't mean that harvesting data is a bad idea; it only means that user experience should not be compromised at the cost of any such step. User experience should be on top and at the core of everything from searching the products to navigation to check out. 

Final Words

Forced signups sometimes hinder conversions. The same is true for a payment gateway integrated with your website. There shouldn't be any transaction failure from payment gateway. A transaction failure is always extremely annoying and not good for user experience. Choose an online payment gateway India that has a very low transaction failure rate. It should be supported by good technology. 

Why A Payment Gateway Is Crucial To Your Success In The Crowded Ecommerce Marketplace?

Digital has changed the way things happen in this world. Look around you - everything is digital now. Digital is no more linked with scientific fiction stories or sci-fi thriller movies like Tom Cruise's Minority Reports. Digital has actually become a part of our lives and is visible everywhere. 

The Digital Age

Needless to say that in next few decades, even your dresses and shoes would be attached with digital devices and you would be able to track the entire information about your house just by tapping the sensors attached to your shoe laces. You would be able to check what is there in the refrigerator, what needs to be thrown out and what can be consumed right away from its shelves. 

With shopping and business going global, digital payment has become an inevitable part of our daily life. You cannot even think of ancient methods working these days. ECommerce stores and online businesses can’t function if physical invoices, bills, and paper documents are exchanged between a buyer and a seller to complete a transaction, forget about making cash payments.

It is not just difficult, it's nearly impossible. It will not be able to support the way E-Commerce is conducted today with volumes of transactions taking place and trade happening across international borders.  Similarly, payment hassles will hinder any purchase attempts made by buyers online.

A Global Shift From Manual to Digital

With rapid globalization, increasing population and increasing complexity of life, technology has become the only life saver. In order to conduct commerce, money should be transferred from one hand to another without any friction. You cannot accept payments, if you are not ready to adopt the technology that facilitates you to accept payments across the world. Processing hundreds of transactions instantly every day is manually not possible. 

Gain The Trust of Your Customer

A payment gateway is an innovative technology that helps you overcome this problem. A secure payment processor enables you to accept payment quickly and easily, while keeping the financial information of your customers entirely safe. It is extremely important to gain the trust of your customers otherwise they will never share their financial information on your website.

Premium Services are Always Charged 

A payment gateway is an indispensable tool that helps you make money online. Just like every useful service, this is also a paid service. Choose a professional gateway service so you do not face problems that might impact your productivity.  So, even if you are being charged you must be sure that every penny you are paying adds value to your business and is helps you to increase your online profits. 

Customer service is a game changer.  Make sure your secure payment processor offer robust support, so in the event of any hiccup or problem it should be resolved as soon as possible without interrupting purchase transactions taking place on your website. Payment gateways can be the game changer as far as the success of your web-store is concerned.