Payment Processing Common Mistakes
Mark Forster
Merchant services for Business Consultants , Coaches, and Small Business Owners
Running a business in this digital age means you have to get payment processing right or else you will run the risk of losing customers and revenue. Setting up a flawless payment system is a challenging feat where if done incorrectly means lost revenue and lost customers. This post will share the most common payment processing pitfalls and tips to avoid them.
Pitfall 1: Not Choosing the Right Payment Processor
Imagine this - it's Cyber Monday and your online store is riddled with traffic left and right of customers ready to buy. However, transactions are failing left and right, the merchant account is unable to handle the volume, or worse they are unable to handle your business vertical. One of the biggest days of the year for you to generate sales and you are missing out on revenue by the minute. Pretty far from ideal am I right?
You can not mess this piece up. Your payment processor is the heartbeat of your business. You must vet your options thoroughly. Make sure to research things like rates, contract terms, integrations, reporting, security, and dispute resolution.
The right payment processor is a partner to you and your business so you want to make sure that you are putting in the time to know what company will best serve you and your future growth.
Pitfall 2: Not Securing the System
Your payment platform houses sensitive customer data - names, addresses, and card details. One data breach and that's your reputation down the drain, not to mention potential fines.
Follow standard protocols - end-to-end encryption, tokenized data, and multifactor authentication. If this sounds too complex, see if you can work closely with your provider to implement it.
Rather than treating security as an afterthought, you need to make it a central pillar of your business right from the start, carrying equal importance as quality and customer service. Taking proactive measures to safeguard customer data is key to earning their trust and confidence in your brand.
Pitfall 3: Not Testing Before Launch
After investing significant time and resources into implementing new payment processing, you are going to want to run test transactions. This is a step that is overlooked by many business owners and one that has a direct impact on revenue, customer experience, and reputation.
Before migrating real customer payments, comprehensively test across a wide variety of scenarios, transaction types, devices, and platforms. Confirm that email receipts, error messaging, and failover mechanisms function properly in all situations.
View testing through the lens of your customer’s experience to identify potential pain points or confusing flows. This diligent testing may delay your launch date but will pay dividends by avoiding frustrated customers, sagging sales, and public missteps when real money is on the line.
Pitfall 4: Not Monitoring Operations Closely
Ongoing monitoring and optimization are crucial to minimize friction and chargebacks. Rather than taking a reactive approach and troubleshooting issues as they arise, proactively track key performance indicators across transaction volume, dispute rates, processing times, and common errors.
领英推荐
Analyze the data with an eye toward spotting patterns, roadblocks, and opportunities for improvement. Implement real-time alert systems to identify problems at the first sign rather than after escalation.
Once again, approach every payment failure from the customer’s perspective and try to remove friction and confusion before customers take their business elsewhere. View payment operations as a digital experience requiring constant refinement, not a set-it-and-forget-it infrastructure.
Pitfall 5: Not Staying Current with Compliance Standards
The payments industry evolves rapidly, with new regulations emerging constantly. What was compliant a year ago may now expose you to fines or legal risks. Make staying current with standards a top priority.
As for the here and now, make sure you take the time to regularly review your systems and policies to ensure they align with the latest rules on data protection, security protocols, and more. If you need to, outsource compliance checks to experts so you can have peace of mind knowing that you are completely up to date.
Final Word
When it comes to payment processing, mistakes can be costly. The key is finding the right partner, taking security seriously, testing rigorously, keeping an eye on the data, and staying up-to-date on the regulations. Do all that, and you'll be in good shape.
Customers will breeze through checkout as your revenue keeps growing without technical hiccups. In addition, you'll sleep easy knowing your systems are locked up tight. So be thorough, be vigilant, and don't cut corners.
About Author
Currently Mark is owner of Legacy Payments and part owner of Deposyt where he increases overall company sales by developing relationships with vertical markets to bring in new merchant processing accounts.
Connect with me more: