Busy parents prize convenience, and there are few things more convenient than the ability to pay for their child’s care online. But, in addition to mere convenience, online payment solutions provide a bevy of advantages to you as a provider and the families in your care.
Benefits of Online Payments for Families
- Choice of Payment Sources – Online payment solutions provide options to parents. Options are especially beneficial to families who may struggle financially and need to rotate between using a bank account and a credit card or two different credit cards.
- Convenience – The biggest draw for parents when using an online payment system is convenience. They can pay from home, their desk, on the train, or virtually from wherever they are when they remember and its quick and easy.
- Automated Payment Options – Many online payment solutions offer an automated payment option. This feature lets parents set the payment type and date once and then essentially “forget” about it because the system makes monthly payments for them.
- Payment Security – Online payments have never been more secure with the advancements in digital technology and cyber security which most digital platforms have incorporated within their payment ecosystem.
- Easier to Keep Track – Online payment from a bank account or credit card provides an instant receipt in the transaction record. In addition, parents can easily search by name or amount to track payments or tally for tax or other purposes.
Benefits of Online Payments for Providers
- Automatic Receipts – Online payments generate automatic receipts for you and the parent. Automatic receipts make proof of payment easier to verify if there are issues. They also provide a clear record of when they paid and how much.
- Simplify Record Keeping – An online payment solution simplifies your school’s record keeping. Payment information is stored in a central location, and there is no need to shift through files or dig around for paper records.
- Parents Can Pay from Anywhere and Anytime – Online payment solutions mean your students’ parents can pay from anywhere, which means you’re more likely to be paid on time!
- Frees Staff Up for Other Duties – Taking, recording, and providing receipts for payments uses valuable time your office staff could perform other duties like interacting with parents or handling important phone calls. While you may offer online payments in conjunction with accepting credit cards or checks in-house, anything you can do to free up time for your staff to focus on other tasks is valuable.
- Payment Security – Online payments offer payment security because it takes the worry of bounced checks or fake cash. You will also receive payment instantly without waiting for money to clear from the bank.
- Payment Reminders – You can use your online payment software to generate payment reminders automatically. Automatic payment reminders a few days ahead of time can prevent late or missed payments.
- Recurring Payments – Payment software lets you set up recurring payment options for families. They only need to provide the information once with recurring payments and then let the software take over. Recurring payments cut back on payment reminders and missed payments.
- Multiple Payment Gateways – Depending on the software you have partnered with, you will have the option of providing multiple payment gateways like Apple Pay, Visa, Mastercard, and local options depending on the country you are based. This gives parents more options, improving the customer experience and increasing revenue. Apps like Bounce who offer international and local payment gateways help facilitate easy expansion into new markets.
