These days, retailers who only accept cash are as rare as dinosaur eggs. 

If you have not fully embraced the new economy where coins and bills are little more than an afterthought, it’s time to learn about digital payments: what they are and how they can take your store to a new level of profitability while pleasing your customers at the same time.

Digital payments defined

Digital or electronic payments, often called ePayments, are digital monetary transactions that take place between two parties. 

They exist in a variety of forms: via credit or debit cards, bank transfers through the Automated Clearing House (ACH), virtual card payments (through a single-use, randomly-generated 16-digit token) and cross-border payments for overseas payment processing.

How digital payments can benefit your business

With competition and globalization at an all-time high, ePayments furnish businesses like yours with a way to enhance customer experience and set yourself apart from your less innovative rivals. 

They feature several compelling advantages for companies of all sizes.

For one thing, they are less expensive, faster, safer and easier to collect than their paper check predecessors. Once you incorporate ePayments into your infrastructure, you will save money on every invoice. This is true even if you are utilizing a virtual payment terminal to accept your client’s credit card.

Moreover, taking payments digitally is much safer than using paper checks. Technologies such as tokenization, SSL and encryption make it far more difficult for data to be compromised. Furthermore, your payment processing company should adhere to strict security compliance standards, further safeguarding the integrity of the data you store, share and manage.

Additionally, automation has benefits of its own. Tasks that are done via software are more accurate and can occur without requiring an investment of time or other resources for you or your staff. 

This leaves you and your associates free to handle the more complex tasks that are best addressed by humans.

Speed and convenience are two other important upsides. With digital payments, you will receive your funds much more quickly and reliably. That’s because customers can resolve their bills online from anywhere and at any time without the need to visit a bank. All the while, your systems are keeping secure records of every transaction that you can refer to later if any issues arise.

This transparency extends to every part of the digital invoicing or payment process. As a result, you will have maximum control over cash flow and the ongoing ability to detect fraud or other security breaches.

Finally, your relationships with customers and suppliers will be enhanced once you begin to offer multiple forms of digital payments. Buyers respond positively when they are allowed to complete their purchase using their electronic method of choice, and the same is true of your business colleagues and suppliers.

In short, everyone wins with the affordability, ease of use, accuracy and flexibility that ePayments bring into a business. Don’t wait another day to give your customers the numerous benefits that come with these modern bill resolution options.