When you last paid your phone bill, odds are you probably paid it through an app or online. Electronic payments are quickly becoming the norm due to the efficiency and convenience they provide. In fact, 8 out of 10 Americans prefer online shopping according to a study by Pew Research. What does this mean? Consumers and businesses are favoring payment methods that offer flexibility and ease.
What is Electronic Bill Payment?
Electronic bill payment is the process through which companies collect payment electronically. Sounds simple enough, right? Well, it can get rather technical but put simply, when an electronic payment is done, a transaction occurs between the cardholder and the merchant. It is safe to say that the recent pandemic has changed the perception of cash, as cash has recently been viewed as a vehicle for transmission of the virus.
As businesses operated remotely during the stay at home orders, businesses that were set to receive electronic payments were well adjusted to the unprecedented economic and cultural shift. With that said, electronic bill payment has proven to be an excellent way to pay for invoices online. For your customers, being able to pay electronically with the payment method of their choice, provides a great customer experience, not to mention convenience. As a business owner, providing electronic bill payment options allows you to get paid faster and customers are increasingly shifting towards contactless payment.
Benefits of Electronic Bill Payment
Electronic bill payment provides a higher level of efficiency and ease for customers. Businesses that offer electronic bill payment have a higher chance of getting paid due to being able to receive various payment options. A great example was seen during previous months, where shopping was mostly done online due to the pandemic, yet businesses that could easily accept various payment options continued to see traffic, despite the pandemics economic impact.
Electronic bill payments reduce errors and reduce the processing time when compared to more traditional payment methods such as checks which can take days to process. This is important to your cash flow considering that processing a check can take days, whereas electronic payments can process almost immediately. These payments are also very secure due to the strict regulations and protocols in place to ensure the safety of consumer information.
Conclusion
During recent months, electronic bill payment proved to be safe, reliable, and necessary. As society is now more conscious, it is moving more towards contactless payments While the concept of online payments is definitely not new, it is more widely being adopted. As businesses improve their services to meet customer needs, providing various contactless payment options should be a part of every businesses toolkit.
Biller Genie
Overdue invoices negatively affect cash flow. 82% of businesses fail due to cash flow issues. Biller Genie is a cloud-based solution that automates accounts receivable from bill presentment, to follow up, collection, and reconciliation – without changing your current process. The Genie does all the heavy lifting for you with no new software to learn, it easily integrates with your accounting system, and you get to keep your existing payment processor. As a result, our average subscriber sees a reduction in outstanding balances by 40% and gets paid up to 15 days faster. We wish to take away the headaches involved in accounts receivable. Click here to learn more.