Everything in ecommerce happens fast. Superfast. Payouts and payments need to do the same. There is nothing more frustrating than having to pay a gig worker, send money to employees immediately or refund a client instantly, and you have to jump through hoops to get it done. Worst of all is when you have to pay an astronomical amount in charges for the privilege.
Payment providers have woken up to the fact that the market needs solutions that work for them. Visa and Mastercard have introduced fast payments to anybody with a valid debit or prepaid card. These payments, also known as payouts, are fast and convenient without sacrificing security. Let’s dig a bit deeper into the benefits and applications of fast card payments.
Welcome to the digital age
Traditionally money had to make a couple of hops to be transferred from one business or person to another. Various institutions received it, sat on it, and then passed it to the next institution that did the same. Each one of them charges a fee for every ‘hop’. That’s why it took so long to get money from one person/entity to another. If you throw a national border or continent into the mix, the hops increase, and so do the fees and the time you have to wait for the funds to reflect in the receiver’s account. Arrive the digital age where workers migrate across borders and businesses transact globally. The payments industry had to think on its feet to reduce the risks and inconvenience of sending money globally. It did so by eliminating various hops between the sender and receiver of funds. They reduced the risk and costs and amped up convenience. Real-time payments saw the light of day, and nobody has looked back.
Global reach
Mastercard and Visa utilise their global network and technology to connect to institutions in over 80 countries in 160 different currencies. That means anybody holding a valid debit or prepaid card in any of these countries can receive money instantly. Through Mastercard Send and Visa Direct, merchants can move funds to almost anywhere on the globe. You might ask yourself why they would want to do that? Let’s have a look at some instances where ecommerce businesses can leverage this functionality to their advantage.
Relook refunds
No ecommerce enterprise likes the word refunds. It is something you have to deal with and most ecommerce strategies aim to reduce them. The admin behind refunds is astronomical. First, you have to ensure your refund policy is tight, practical, and legal. Nobody makes money by just sending and receiving products. But, if you do it right, it might become a powerful tool in your marketing and customer service armour. By offering instant refunds you create an extra level of trust with shoppers. People are more likely to spend their hard-earned cash if they don’t perceive any risk. They know they will get their money back if they are unhappy with the product or if they perhaps made a mistake with the dimensions or the colour, and the size of the product. The reasons for returns are vast but one rule applies. Do refunds fast to ensure your customer comes back again and again.
Gig workers
The pandemic has changed the world of remote work forever. Employees worldwide have joined the gig economy to be able to eliminate burnout, boring full-time contracts, and to benefit from agile workplaces. Your ecommerce enterprise can leverage this trend to call in forces that can focus on a particular area of your business. You don’t need to employ the best minds in web design, marketing, and development at great cost any longer. You can apply their skills to very specific problems. If people work fast they want to get paid fast. You can now do it in a matter of seconds with card payouts.
Pay suppliers
If you work in the ecommerce space you are definitely aware that there’s a global shortage of various products. Any product that contains a microchip, for instance, is in high demand due to the limited supply of these products. In a bull market, you have to charge ahead of the herd to get what you want. To do this, you have to be able to pay any supplier immediately, otherwise, you run the risk of being outbid or out-paid by a competitor.
You might have various reasons why you need to send money, pay somebody locally, or cross-border. When you look for a payments provider keep all of this in mind and find one that can offer you fast, reliable, predictable, and secure payments. Truevo’s Card Payouts can do just that. Speak to us about your needs. When we say “Payments. Anytime. Anywhere” we mean it.
