Knowledge Centre

As more people get used to browsing from the comfort of their home, learn the benefits of taking online payments securely and efficiently.   How do online payments work? A payment gateway, such as Worldpay, links your website to a payment processing network to secure and authenticate a transaction. It typically comes with additional services such as Pay by Link for email, and virtual terminals allow you to take payments over the phone. What are the benefits of online payments? Speed Think about the last time you bought something online – was it easy to checkout? No one wants to sit through a slow or lengthy process if your competitor has a better experience. With many shoppers now taking a simple checkout process for granted, it’s a no brainer. Offering faster ways to pay is something that your customers will appreciate, and this can lead to more conversions as a result. Security Integrating a secure online payments method is essential for giving your customer peace of mind and limiting the impact of fraud on your business. When someone pays through your website, you’re not able to check the card yourself. However, a series of checks are carried on the card to help identify and decline fraudulent cards. You can choose whether to use card verification codes (CVC) and address verification services to confirm that someone’s details are legitimate. Since 31 December 2020, new Strong Customer Authentication regulations will change how consumers in the EU pay online. The UK will also implement these regulations in September 2021. These regulations are designed to protect consumers from fraud. When they take effect, you will sometimes need to prove consumers’ identities when taking online payments. The most important change is to make sure if you are taking card payments you have enabled 3D Secure on all transactions. This will be used to prove consumers’ identities once the regulations take effect. The options are 3D Secure Version 1 or 3D Secure Version 2. 3D Secure Version 2 offers an improved authentication experience on mobile devices. It will also protect you against the implications of Visa’s fraud protection liability cover mandate taking effect from October 2021. Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS) Accepting card payments means staying compliant with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS). Worldpay offer a Safer Payments programme that will guide you step-by-step to achieve compliance. Flexibility Don’t have a website or online shop? You can take secure payments over the phone with a virtual terminal, or through email with Pay by Link. These integrate with your online dashboard, meaning you can see all information about payments and invoices at a glance. Your customers will have more choice and flexibility with how they shop, allowing them to pay in a way that suits them. Real time data Want to know how your new sale or product launch is going? With a live dashboard, you can quickly see when purchases are made on your website. When a customer pays online or through another secure method, you’re able to see details right away through Worldpay’s online dashboard. Easy access to your daily figures can help you with your cash flow management and tracking the success of your marketing efforts. If you need to refund a customer or get more information about an order, the information you need is only a click away. Wondering if you’re hitting your monthly targets? With online payments, you can export reports as and when you need them, giving you greater flexibility.

Small businesses are foregoing having an online presence altogether as new research reveals that three quarters in the UK lack a website. A new survey has revealed that 75% of Britain’s small businesses don’t have a website According to figures from the Office of National Statistics, the percentage of retail sales made online has steadily increased since 2006. This figure is likely to rise, with millennial consumers making 60% of their purchases online. Internet sales currently account for 18% of total retail sales, rising from 2.8% over the thirteen-year period. “For most one or two-person companies, a website is understandably not at the top of the list of priorities. However, when you look at how people search for local businesses, the first port of call is usually a search engine like Google and if local businesses don’t appear, they’re lacking that shop window and missing out on valuable customers.The ability to quickly compare prices and check online reviews were two of the most frequently-cited reasons for choosing to shop on the web rather than in-store, and UENI also found that 86% of customers chose to consult a search engine before making a purchase. The study from London-based tech company UENI surveyed more than 5,000 businesses from across the UK and US. Of the 1,929 small businesses in the UK, 14% didn’t know what a domain name was. Having a domain is the starting point to gaining online visibility, but one in seven of the small business owners when asked didn’t know what the term ‘domain name’ meant. For British small businesses to compete, owners only need a basic level of online literacy and understanding of the internet. Having said that, what many small businesses don’t realise is that technology is making it far easier to have an online presence. These days, businesses can even achieve visibility in Google in a matter of minutes, given the right tools. Take me to the Pay Monthly Web Plans

We understand creating and maintaining a website is hard – trust us! But in 2021, communication is digital, and consumers are surfing the web to learn more about what you have to offer.

If you’re not on the web, you’re not even in their sphere of awareness – and you’re definitely not getting their business?