COVID Update: Rise in cashless payments amid coronavirus

Are you opting for cashless payments in light of COVID-19?

Since the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak, concerns have circulated about the possible hygiene implications of handling cash.

While it may not be the main mode of transmission, it is suggested that COVID-19 may stick to surfaces for hours and even days. This means that touching your mouth, nose or eyes after handling cash could potentially encourage the virus to spread.

Regardless of whether these concerns are founded or not, the notion that cash could be a carrier for the disease has seen both consumers and businesses alike alter the way they choose to operate.

 

Health concerns about cash payments

The potential for coins and banknotes to house bacteria has been acknowledged for many years yet largely unacted upon. However, this seems to be changing rapidly due to the unfolding pandemic and serious risks associated with the COVID disease.

With these concerns circling the media and propelling public concern, many businesses are now opting for cashless payments.

 

Cashless payments

The increasing push away from cash has ultimately pulled consumers towards cashless payments like Eftpos and Tap and Pay.

This presents an opportunity for businesses to enhance their electronic payment methods in order to accommodate consumer preferences.

And while COVID-19 has seen many shy away from cash, this move has actually been in motion for many years.

Whether for convenience, security, hygiene or other factors, payment via debit card in Australia has almost tripled since 2007, while cash payments have more than halved in the same period.

Of course, some people are adopting this technology far more quickly than others, with late adopters generally being older Australians and those with lower socioeconomic backgrounds.

Despite this, the shift towards a cashless society is clear; COVID-19 has exacerbated (not instigated) the preference for cashless payments. 

 

Source: Consumer Payment Behaviour in Australia | Bulletin – March Quarter 2020

 

Other benefits of cashless payments

Aside from the hygiene factors present in the current COVID-19 climate, there is a range of other great benefits to using contactless payment methods for business. Some of these include:

  1. Ability to take more payments in less time
  2. Reduced possibility of unbalanced cash floats
  3. Reduced security risks & potential for theft 
  4. Ability to action refunds and discounts more easily
  5. Understand your customers better with reporting and analytics on all transactions 

 

Coronavirus update: Business as usual at Latpay

In light of the evolving COVID-19 crisis, the team at Latpay are committed to maintaining normal business and payment processing operations over the weeks and months ahead.

Our office is closely monitoring the advice of local governments. We have tried and tested contingency plans ready to implement to ensure there is no change in the level of support we currently offer you across all our teams. 

Our plan includes employees having the necessary technology to work remotely, regardless of office location. This course of action not only helps protect the health and welfare of our staff members but also ensures we can continue to deliver the support you need through these challenging times.  

If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact us via phone, email or Skype. And most importantly, stay safe.

The best payment systems for clubs and associations

Does your club still accept cash payments, money orders and cheques?

While these payment methods might have served your organisation well in the past, electronic payments have long surpassed them as your members’ preferred way to pay.

It’s no secret that Aussies are carrying less cash on them, less frequently which means that expecting them to pay in cash can cause a disjointed payment process for both you and your members.

The answer? Go digital. To encourage quicker, more reliable payments for your club, let’s take a look at why digital payments are the way to go and how you can implement them into your club.

 

Why scale up your payment processes?

As well as offering members a fast and familiar way to pay, electronic payment systems deliver a range of other benefits for associations, organisations, clubs and societies.

Stop chasing payments

Think about how much time you spend following up members for their annual fees, uniform costs and other associated expenses. With digital invoices and reminders sent directly to your members, you’ll spend less time following up payments and more time dedicated to serving your club.

Improve cashflow for your club

Faster payments means increased cashflow for your organisation. As the primary source of income allowing you to offer your services to the community, having consistent collection of payments allows you to distribute more funds where your club needs it most.

Reduce admin time

With a streamlined online payment system, doing the books becomes a breeze. All payments that come through your electronic system will be automatically logged and tracked using an online dashboard. This means you can spend less time pouring over the figures while retaining total clarity over your club’s finances.

Hold less cash on site

 Transferring your payments to digital allows you to keep less cash on site. It also means there’s less chance of money going missing or miscalculated with everything done automatically through your payment portal. Easy! 

 

Top 3 payment systems for clubs and associations:

 

 mPOS

mPOS (or mobile point of sale) solutions are a really simple way of taking payments for busy clubs and associations. Especially for those who don’t have a website, or whose website lacks eCommerce functionality, mPOS allows you to take simple credit card payments by scanning with your mobile device.

mPOS also has really stringent security parameters, meaning your members payment details will remain safe at all times. So regardless of whether you’re in the office or walking around the grounds, taking payment via mPOS is quick, simple and most importantly, secure.

Benefits of mPOS to clubs and associations

  • Take payments on the go – no need for wires or desktop portals
  • Reduce time and resources collecting payments
  • Offer streamlined payment options to your members
  • Store less cash on site
  • Protect member payment details with the highest level of card security

 

Payment Links

As the name suggests, Payment Links allow you to collect money from your customers through a digital link. These links may be sent via text or email and even through social media accounts like Messenger, WhatsApp and Viber.

Through sending invoices directly to your member’s device, you’ll be able to collect funds faster. Payment links also have the ability to send reminder notices for unpaid invoices, reducing time and energy spent following up late payments.

Benefits of Payment Links for clubs and associations

  • Send invoices to a platform your members use everyday
  • Experience faster payments with a simple payment process
  • Reduce time and resources collecting payments
  • Offer multiple online payments that your members are comfortable using
  • Store less cash on site
  • Protect sensitive payment info with the highest level of card security

 

Hosted Payment Page

Hosted Payment Pages allow you to take payments through your website without the hassle of developing a shopping cart or checkout process. Instead, your members are redirected to a secure page to pay their fees.

With the ability to fully customise the page with your club’s colours and branding, members will never even notice they have left your site.

Hosted Payment Pages also offer top-level security and a range of familiar payment options including credit and debit cards, e-Wallets and more, making them perfect for clubs that have a website but don’t have the development capacity to build an eCommerce checkout.

Benefits of Hosted Payment Pages for clubs and associations 

  • Offer eCommerce functionality with the costs of developing a checkout system
  • Offer around-the-clock payment systems for members to pay when it suits
  • Provide a variety of online payments that your members prefer to use
  • Store less cash on site
  • Protect payment information with the highest level of card security

 

Accept club payments with the most reputable payment methods 

  • Visa
  • Mastercard
  • Direct Debit
  • BPAY
  • American Express

Ready to move your club into the future of payments? Learn more about the best payment methods and merchant services for clubs and associations today 07 5515 0402.

How to increase traffic to your eCommerce store

Increasing traffic is important for every website.

However, you don’t want just any old traffic – you want the right traffic; users who are interested in your offerings, who want to keep in contact with you and who are ready to buy.

Unfortunately, there is no such thing as a quick-fix or magic button when it comes to attracting traffic. It’s something you need to work at over time and from multiple angles.

And while it might take a bit of energy and hard work, the results far outweigh sitting back and waiting for customers to (hopefully) find you on their own.

If you’re up for the task, let’s take a look at 5 of the most tried and tested strategies to increasing traffic for ecommerce stores.

 

Build your databases (and utilise them)

Lists and databases are one of the simplest and most effective ways to increase traffic to your online store. Regardless of whether they’ve purchased from you or not, people in your lists are interested in your brand. They’ve told you this by opting in to receive communications from you.

Contact lists don’t just necessarily refer to your email contacts, either. These days, brands are forming lists on things like Facebook Messenger to keep the conversation open on platforms that matter most to their audience.

Having these lists not only keeps these prospects engaged, but it also helps you to nurture them through your sales funnel.

To help build your databases, try implementing some of the following lead generating tactics:

  • Include a form or pop up on your home page. These should include special offers like a discount or free shipping and request an email address to receive the deal.
  • Offer referral incentives to current subscribers for referring a friend
  • Offer ‘bonus’ content (like a video or how-to guide) relevant to your industry that users need to enter their details to access
  • Promote chatbot subscriptions on Facebook by running a competition or encouraging users to ask questions
  • Create a blog subscription

 

Create content for your website

Boosting your content marketing strategy was one of the most important marketing trends to come out of 2019. It’s also a really effective way to achieve better SEO, establish your authority in your industry and keep users coming back to your online shop.

When creating a blog series, it’s important to think about what your users want to know about – not what you as a business want them to know.

What is interesting or relevant to them, yet still in some way linked to your product offerings? How could you answer a question your customers have about your product while still providing value?

For instance, if you sell work out gear, you could write a blog post about staying healthy with the right food or offer the best short workouts using equipment they can purchase from you.

Not only will people looking for this type of content be more likely to find you in search engines, but you’ll also be able to share it across your social media accounts and drive your social followers back to your web store.

Guest blogging is another really cool way to keep your blogs interesting. Essentially, a guest post is written by an authority figure within your industry (such as an influencer) and posted to your website.

Promoting a blog written by a figure your audience follows is a great way to boost organic traffic to your ecommerce website and encourage users to form a deeper connection with your brand.

 

Try influencer marketing

Influencer marketing essentially means collaborating with people who influence your audience.

Beyond blogging, influencer marketing can be really effective for increasing traffic to your store. Your users see a person they look up to promoting your brand and take it as a personal recommendation about your products.

So, how do you define which influencer would be most appropriate for your brand? Research.

One way to do this is to conduct some market research to see who your audience believes to be most influential to them.

Another option is to create a list of keywords related to your products and search online for popular bloggers and related brands you could collaborate with.

If you’re taking the social media approach, search hashtags and social media accounts related to your products.

When searching for influencers, keep in mind that accounts with the largest following won’t always have the most engaged audience. If you’re not sure, have a look at their likes and comments to see who interacts with their audience the most.

 

Offer referral incentives 

Another way you can increase traffic is to utilise social proof and the word of your existing customers.

People trust the recommendations of their friends and family above all else, so it makes sense to reward your customers for promoting your brand to others.

When developing a referral program, it’s important to offer an incentive your customers are likely to value. For instance, offering a $10 discount is unlikely to encourage action if you’re selling luxury bedspreads for $500.

In short, make sure your incentive is relative to a) your product offerings and b) to the amount of effort you’re asking of your customers.

 

Run a Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising campaign  

Did you know that, on average, a quarter of all online traffic for online retailers comes from Google Ads?

Organic traffic through SEO and paid advertising like PPC are two really important strategies for increasing traffic to your website. However, unless you know what you’re doing, both of these things can be really hard to master.

If you’re serious about driving ready-to-buy customers back to your site, consider onboarding a digital marketing specialist who can help you audit and improve your SEO, set up your ad campaigns and track your performance through Google Analytics.

 

Beyond traffic 

It’s all well and good to attract traffic to your site, but this will mean next to nothing if you don’t provide them with a good experience while they’re there.

Click here to learn more about providing a seamless checkout experience to your customers.

Getting paid with payment links

What is a payment link?

Payment links (or PLINKS) allow you to send payable invoices straight to your customers mobile, social media account, email and other comms applications. With the ability to accept credit cards and debit cards, online banking and digital wallets through the simple click of a link, your customers will be thanking you at every bill with on-time payments deposited directly into your bank account.

Why use payment links for your business?

PLINKs are an incredibly versatile yet streamlined payment method that allows you to improve cash flow by collecting payments 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  As well as processing transactions and accepting online payments, PLINKs have the following advantages for your business:

Get paid on time

Sending SMS PLINKs to your customers is an easy and efficient way to get paid on time, every time. All your customer needs to do is view their invoice and simply click a link to pay. No getting lost in the inbox, just a straightforward, simple process that gets you paid sooner.

Take payments from more people

Asking your customers to log in to an application or online portal to pay your invoice can be a hassle, often resulting in late or missed payments. Using latpay’s simple PLINKs, you can offer a better system that everyone can access with the tap of a button – easy!

Offer better security

As well as being an easier way to pay, our PLINKs come with world-class security backed by the highest-level PCI DSS compliance (Level 1)  as well as our revered tokenization process to ensure that all your customers’ data remains in the right hands.

Get access to a personalised dashboard

Partnering with latpay, your business will gain access to a comprehensive dashboard that allows you to create and share personalised links with your customers. With complete clarity and control of your invoices, you’ll also be able to better manage your finances and know exactly when and where the money’s coming in.

The biggest advantages of using payment links

  • Send invoices immediately via simple links
  • Receive transaction management via SMS & email notifications
  • Accept all payment types & currencies from around the world
  • Maintain PCI DSS Level 1 Compliance
  • Customise your checkout to match your business branding
  • Protect your customers with real-time fraud management

Who are payment links ideal for?

While PLINKs are fantastic for just about any business, they’re particularly beneficial for businesses looking to step into the future of digital payments without completely reinventing the wheel. Some of the businesses that benefit the most from incorporating PLINKs include:

  • Clubs, associations and organisations
  • Gyms and sports centres
  • Businesses requiring joining fees
  • Monthly subscriptions
  • Phone & utility providers
  • And heaps more!

Why partner with latpay?

Offering a truly complete and integrated payment platform, Latpay can help you discover the real value of innovative technology for everyday business. As a leading Payment and Merchant Service Provider in the UK, Australia and Canada, we deliver superior transactional, fraud management and data tokenization services to businesses all around the world.

If you’re ready to take your invoicing capabilities to the next level, chat with us today!

The risks of cyber security & why you should care

Online crime and cyber-attacks in Australia

The Australian landscape for cybercrime is rapidly growing, with many businesses falling victim to the advances of online criminals every day. And while we often read about large-scale corporate data breaches in the media, medium and small businesses are actually more likely to become a target due to their often-minimalistic approach to cyber security.

To help you as a business owner understand why you should be concerned with cybersecurity, we’ve put together a brief guide as to what could be targeted and how. More importantly, we’ve also included some good examples of how you can protect yourself. Take a read below!

What could be at risk?

While you might think that your business information wouldn’t be of interest to a cybercriminal, the reality is that just about any piece of data or sensitive information can be a target. If you acquire, retain or produce any of the following information, it’s important that your business is taking the relevant precautions to protect itself against unauthorised access:

  • Financial records and data
  • Client records and data
  • Product design or business ideas
  • Business models
  • Intellectual property (IP)
  • Patents (current or pending)
  • Employee information

While all information can be a potential target for cybercrime, financial data is likely the biggest drawcard for criminals. For this reason, online businesses, in particular, can become vulnerable to additional risk if they are not adequately protected.

 How can cyber criminals access your information?

While the ways in which cybercriminals gain access to your information evolves every day, there are a number of traditional and well-known attacks to be aware of. Some of these include:

  • Breach of your website, payment processes or mobile app
  • Viruses and malware that can infect your computers or networks
  • Theft or remote access of your hardware and devices
  • Social engineering and phishing 

How can you protect yourself?

While it’s near impossible to ever be fully protected against online criminal activity, there are strategies and technologies that can be deployed to mitigate vulnerabilities and risks. This, paired with an understanding and awareness of the way hackers might attempt to breach your data, is the best way to approach cybersecurity.

Some of the simplest ways you can protect your information include:

  • Updating your website, Point-of-Sale (POS) systems and other devices with the latest software releases
  • Develop terms and conditions or procedures for staff to follow in regard to online security and the security of all company devices
  • Develop an incident response plan to ensure you’re prepared to react should a cyber breach occur
  • Implement network security, email protection and anti-virus software (with the help of a cybersecurity or managed IT company if possible)
  • If you run an online business, aim to satisfy PCI DSS Level 1 compliance requirements

Protecting your customer’s payment details with a secure payment platform

 If your selling products or services online, the way you take payment is critical to the safety of your customers’ payment information. Moreover, financial institutions will also require that you meet certain compliance targets to ensure the safety of their customers and yours.

At Latpay, we help our clients to take payments online through the implementation of secure hosted payment pages. Offering PCI DSS Level 1 compliance, every transaction is secured and fully encrypted to the highest standards to ensure your customer’s information remains untouched.

To learn more about the comprehensive benefits of Latpay’s merchant services, click here or get in touch with our customer service team to chat with a local representative today.