What are merchant services?
Merchant services refer to the broad range of financial services that help businesses accept and process payments.
Merchant services cover different types of solutions such as:
- Payment processing systems that handle card transactions and online payments.
- Point-Of-Sale (POS) systems which facilitate in-store payments and can integrate with your inventory, invoicing software, and customer management tools.
When choosing a provider, you need to consider the volume of transactions your business processes, the types of payments you accept, any integration features you need for your accounting, and point of sale and payment systems.
What is payment processing?
Payment processing is what happens when a customer makes a purchase with a credit or debit card. When a customer makes a payment payment processing systems begin the process.
- The payment information is sent to the customer’s bank to make sure they have the money or credit available.
- If everything checks out, the payment is authorised.
- Finally, the funds are transferred from the customer’s account to the business.
Payment processing systems use encryption and tokens to make sure transactions are secure. But we’ll talk more about security later.
Why have a payment system?
Let’s put this in the category of ‘There are no stupid questions.’
And while the answer might seem obvious, the benefits go beyond simply getting paid.
Better flexibility
A payment system gives your customers choice. Whether they prefer to pay with a credit card, debit card, or by bank transfer, offering more ways to pay means fewer delays.
By incorporating invoicing software into your payment system, you can streamline the billing process and help ensure you get paid on time.
Better accuracy
Using a payment system helps you better manage your financial records. It’s easy to make a mistake when record-keeping manually, especially when managing multiple invoices and payments. A digital payment solution keeps a log of your incoming payments, making reporting and reconciliation much more accurate.
Better security
With scams rife, it’s never been more important to ensure payment security. By using encryption and fraud detection measures, digital payment systems offer better protection than traditional cash transactions.
Digital payments, particularly those managed through a merchant account, help reduce the risk of theft, fraud or accidental loss of funds.
For small business owners, a secure payment processing system is crucial for maintaining trust with customers and protecting the business from potential financial risks.
Less paperwork
One of the biggest benefits for small business owners.
A digital payment solution significantly reduces paperwork and saves valuable time that you can reinvest in other parts of your business. Automated invoicing software and payment systems allow you to track transactions in real-time, eliminating the need for manual entry and cutting down on errors.
Business+ Invoices takes the pain out of getting paid
Great Southern Bank Business+ has a new feature that reduces the time it takes to create invoices and get paid. It’s called Business+ Invoices, and here’s why Business+ customers are loving it:
- It’s a low-cost alternative to traditional invoicing software, empowering small business owners to generate professional-looking invoices for free1.
- It’s got automatic payment reminders built in so it can chase late-paying customers for you.
- It gives your customers more payment options, such as bank transfers, PayID, card payments and Apple Pay or Google Pay (using Stripe, our partner payments provider).
- It’s integrated with your business banking, helping you to keep track of your incoming and outgoing payments all in one place.
- It comes with a secure payment link backed by leading worldwide payments provider, Stripe, so you know payments are secure for both you and your customers.
To join other business owners embracing the benefits of Business+ Invoices, become a Business+ customer online or in the Great Southern Bank Business+ app.
A good payment system helps you finish the race strongly, with no slip-ups to stop you claiming your reward.
Remember to check out our Business Hub. You’ll find heaps of free resources and plenty of helpful information to keep your business humming.
