Advice on Collecting Digitally

Paypal seems to be secure for all parties.?ÿ Not sure about transaction fees.

I use Stripe for everything, which takes credit/debit cards and ACH, but I don't store nor take any responsibility for that end of it. It's all on Stripe to handle all of that. I just get the payment minus the 2.9% + 35 cents transaction fee sent directly to my checking account a couple business days later. I don't have to worry about PCI website compliance and all that. I can embed a payment form in the website, or I can use Stripe's Checkout system (which is essentially a pop-up payment box), both of which create a tunnel directly to Stripe for processing.

Here's a good example: https://surveyorconnect.com/become-a-supporter/

I also have a payment form on my Harness Media website for client payments: https://harnessmywebsite.com/payment/

Although I do accept PayPal in some instances, I'm not a big fan of them. If there's a dispute, they'll usually side with the payer, even if you've done nothing wrong.

Some people swear by Venmo but I've never used it. Note that Venmo is owned by PayPal.

Posted by: @wendell

Here's a good example: https://surveyorconnect.com/become-a-supporter/

A good example.

Posted by: @scott-bordenet

I would like to collect digitally, but I don't want to take/give credit card/bank info.?ÿ Also, I want a reasonable transaction fee.?ÿ It would be nice if a digital link for payment could be sent to the client by email (I could attach the invoice).

I use Quickbooks, but am searching for alternatives.

Suggestions?

Iƒ??m not sure I understand your problem. You say you use QB. I do this exact thing from QB. I send a payment link by email from QB for my retainer. Then at final delivery I Invoice the client showing the Fee minus the Retainer and the Balance due. All of this is done via email through QB. I had a client recently that preferred text. So I copied the payment link and sent her a text, no problem. I include the transaction cost in my Quote so that cost is irrelevant to me.?ÿ

Am I misunderstanding your problem?

I use QB also. Simple and easy. Why look anywhere else?

Thanks all.?ÿ I just don't like the 3% transaction fee.?ÿ For the service I receive, I feel a $25 flat transaction fee would be ok, but $90-$150 (typical range for me) gives me some heartburn.

?ÿ

-Scott

@scott-bordenet understood.?ÿ I typically am paid via paper checks and snail mail.?ÿ Works well for me.?ÿ When someone requests to pay via credit card I charge them an additional 3.4% credit card processing fee, they gladly pay.?ÿ I just invoiced $7,500 for balance due payment for a survey.?ÿ They asked to pay via credit card.?ÿ They gladly paid $7,500 + $255 = $7,755.?ÿ QuickBooks works very well for this.?ÿ I get excited when I see a quick email that they have paid, but have learned to be patient and wait a couple business days for the money to actually hit my bank account.

To me, the processing fees are the cost of doing business. So I adjust my pricing accordingly.

Also, I want to get paid, so I remove as many excuses as possible.

ZellPay works well for me.?ÿ It is owned by a consortium of banks like US Bank and the like.?ÿ It is basically a do it yourself EFT with the money going directly to you account.?ÿ In my case they charge a % up to a reasonable limit.?ÿ For a while, thank you Covid, they were not charging any fees.

As for the fees in general, you could always raise your rate to cover them and then offer a cash discount.

I settled on using Melio (meliopayments.com).?ÿ Once set up, you drag an invoice into the online "get paid" routine and add the relevant info. Takes 1 minute tops. The client gets an email with invoice and a payment link.?ÿ You can also grab a link that you can paste into an email you write from your computer.?ÿ It is free to me.?ÿ If the client pays by ACH, it is free to them.?ÿ If the client opts to pay by debit/cc, there is the standard transaction fee (2.9%) to them.

I like that I don't have to deal with fees, and I don't have to deal with collecting personal info.

-Scott

If you want, you can opt to pay the cc fee.

Debit card is also free.?ÿ Only credit card is 2.9%.

I use Square for card payments. They charge 3.5% + $0.15 for manually input card info, and I charge 3.75% to cover the fees.?ÿ Anyone who wants to pay that have not balked at the added cost.?ÿ I get the money in my account the next day.