One thing I have noticed in the last few years is that most people aren’t carrying cash as often. Almost everything can be paid for with a debit/credit card, smartphone, or even your watch. Basically, everybody is buying things using what is called a digital wallet. Don’t get caught in the past and leave merchĀ sales behind. Here are 3 smart ways that you can receive digital payments instantly.
PayPal
PayPal is probably one of the most famous and trusted digital payment companies out there. It started off as one of the first ways to pay for things online. Later it was acquired by eBay which made perfect sense since it was how everybody paid for things on that platform. It is still around today, and it is one of the staples of digital payments. You can transfer funds directly from your linked bank account to another user’s linked bank account, and vice versa, for free. You might have to wait a day or so for the transfer to go through completely, however.
Venmo
Venmo has been around for a bit and was actually acquired by PayPal. Even if you haven’t heard of Venmo before, you can rest assured that it is safe to use because it has digital payment giant PayPal backing it. Venmo also is free to use with a linked bank account. Again, it will take a day to transfer the funds. You can also choose to instantly transfer funds out of Venmo for a flat charge of $.25. Not too bad, if you ask me.
CASH
Square CASH is another app that has been around for years. You might have heard of Square before as they are the company that has those cute little square credit card readers that plug into your smartphone or tablet. I’ll talk about credit card readers in a future post, but I wanted to mention that Square is another company that is trusted in the world of digital money. Like Venmo, you can send cash from your bank account directly to another Square CASH user. You can even buy Bitcoin using the app if you are feeling adventurous.
It is free to transfer money into your bank account if you wait one business day. You also have the option to instantly transfer funds by paying a 1% fee. This option is nice if you really need some money right away.
Make it easy for your customers to buy
All three apps only work when transferring money to other users of the same app. I suggest signing up for each of them to make sure you can accept whatever payment your customer is willing to use. Don’t make it hard for somebody to give you money or they may decide to NOT buy at all.
Remember to display your CASH, Venmo, and/or PayPal username to make it easier for somebody to pay you. Mine are:Ā CASH – $ScottAumann, Venmo – @Scott-Aumann, PayPal – scott.aumann@gmail.com in case you want to send me a donation.
You should notice some extra sales at your merch table the next time you try this out. Take away the “I would buy something, but I don’t have any cash” excuse from your customer. Give them a reason to buy from you by making it easy for them to hand over their money. People will buy more if they don’t have to think about it. Making your sale a chore will mean your customer will think longer about whether to buy or not which leads to fewer sales. Make it a pleasant experience and they will buy from you again and again.
*All of this information is based on what the policies and fees were at the time of this writing. Please check to make sure you know what the current policies are before you use any of these services.
Let me know which digital payment is your favorite. Leave a comment below and tell me why you prefer one over another. Do you have a different solution? Leave a comment telling me about it.
Be sure to check out my post about accepting credit card payments as well.
Photo Credit: David McBee
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