E-payment lets your customers pay for products and services without using cash. They can do this with cards, cell phones, or the internet. It has a number of benefits, such as saving money and time, making more sales, and lowering the cost of doing business. But it can be used to commit fraud on the internet and could make business costs go up.
Benefits of E-Payment
Speed up and make things easier
E-payment is much more convenient than traditional ways of paying, like cash or checks. Since you can charge for services or products online at any point of the day or night and from anywhere in the world, clients don’t have to wait in line. They also don’t have to put it on hold for a check to clear the bank before they can shop with the money. With e-payment, you don’t have to worry about the security risks that come with handling cash.
Additional sales
As more people use online banking and shopping, the number of individuals who pay cash is going down. Bankrate says that more than a pair of consumers hold at least $50 a day, which means that electronic payment options are becoming more and more popular. So, e-payment lets businesses sell to customers who want to charge electronically and give them an edge over those who only accept conventional methods.
Lower transaction costs
Cash payments don’t cost anything extra, but trips to the store usually cost money, and inspections also need postage. On the contrary hand, swiping your card or paying online usually doesn’t cost anything or costs very little. In the long run, people and businesses could save tens of thousands of dollar bills in transaction fees by using e-payment.
Drawbacks of E-payment
Security issues
Even though there are strict measures in place, like symmetric encryption, to make e-payment safe, it can still be hacked. Fraudsters, for example, use phishing scams to trick users who don’t know what’s going on into giving them the log-in information for their e-wallets. They then use this information to get into the survivors’ personal and financial data. E-payment systems also have problems because of bad authentication. Without better ways to check a person’s identity, like biometrics and face recognition, anybody can use someone else’s cards and e-wallets without getting caught. Some people might not want to use e-payment systems because they worry about security.
Conflicting transactions
If someone is using your company’s e – payment without your permission, you would find the strange charge and submit a case with your financial institution, e – payment processor, or credit card company. But if you don’t know sufficiently about the individual who carried out the transaction, it can be hard to win this same claim and get your money back.
Higher business expenses
E-payment systems increase the need to safeguard important financial data stored in a company’s computer systems from unauthorized access. Enterprises that have in-house e-payment systems must spend more money in order to acquire, install, and maintain sophisticated payment-security technologies.
Read more: Digital payment methods, trends, and digital services in 2023