What Options Do You Have To Collect Online Recurring Payments? A Simple Guide.
Automating your recurring payments can and will save you lots of time, money and effort. Implementing a recurring payment model can bring significant benefits to your business, read this article to learn more about how your business can benefit from subscription payments. With so many payment gateways out there, which one is right for you?
PayPal
Paypal is the worlds largest payment gateway, it allows for the sending or receiving of payments worldwide. For recurring payments, PayPal allows businesses to offer a recurring payment button to there e-commerce store, allowing for both credit and debit card payments. They charge no extra fees for this function, you just pay PayPal's standard transaction fee of 2.9%.
Benefits
- Secure
- Easy to use
- Sends receipts
- No extra charge
- Worldwide
- Mobile Functionality
Limitations
- Transaction fee per sale
- Requires users to have a PayPal account
- Redirects users to PayPal's website
Go Cardless
Go Cardless allow for simple, digital payments to be collected or sent across Europe. Their main benefit lies within the functionality and the ability to integrate the payment system into your website. They offer a variety of options for receiving recurring payments for businesses of all sizes. Their basic package charges you 1% per transaction, with a maximum cap of £2 per transaction.
Benefits
- Cheap
- Good functionality
- Allows for integration to your website
- Ease of use
Limitations
- Europe only
- 'Pro' options are fairly expensive
- Requires some technical knowledge to integrate it into your webpage.
Stripe
Stripe allows for payments to be taken directly on your website, without the headache of having to go through a third party website. Stripe has no setup fees, monthly fees, validation fees or failed payment costs at the basic level, however, Stripe does charge 2.9% +30c per transaction, slightly higher than PayPal. Stripe is very easy to set up, put your name, email and bank details in and your ready to go.
Benefits
- Mobile Functionality
- Easy set up
- Worldwide
- Easy intergration to your website
Limitations
- Transaction costs
- May require web development skills for adjustments
- Only online customer service
While there are more payment gateways, PayPal, Stripe and GoCardless are the 3 major players. When choosing which one you want for your business, make sure to factor in your technical ability, the value of your products and where your customers are based. Each gateway has its advantages over the next, it all depends on which advantages mean the most to you. For further information on payment gateways and useful website tips, give us a visit.