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3 Reasons Why You Must Diversify Your Checkout Now

By Johnny / April 8th, 2019

Why online businesses need to stay ahead of the curve and offer more payment options
by Lorenzo Pellegrino, CEO - Skrill, NETELLER and Income Access

Card payments remain a popular form of online payment for eCommerce, particularly in the UK and North America, but there is no doubt that the payments landscape is changing.

Here are three reasons online businesses should seriously consider adding more payment methods to their checkouts to stay ahead of the curve.
Consumers prefer digital wallets
Whilst credit and debit card payments remain a popular online payment method, alternative payments are growing in popularity with consumers.

Top of the list of alternative payments methods that are gaining traction are digital wallets. In 2018 we asked consumers in the US, the UK, Canada, Germany and Austria to tell us which payments methods they used habitually online - 50% of consumers said that they had made at least one online payment using a digital wallet in the past month, rising to 61% in the UK.

There are a number of factors that contribute to the popularity of digital wallets like Skrill and PayPal. These include the convenience of single tap payments for eCommerce, the ability to make cross-border payments in multiple currencies more efficiently, and the fact that consumers can make online payments without having to share their financial details with merchants.

When surveyed by Paysafe in 2018, 74% stated that they would rather use a payment method that they already signed up for than enter their payment details into an unknown website.

Another payment method with a growing adoption rate is direct bank transfer, which appeals to consumers that have greater familiarity with and trust in the security of online banking over card payments. Bank transfer payments are also instant and convenient, as consumers are not redirected away from a merchant's website and only have to remember their online banking password rather than entering cards details.
Diversifying your payment options with regional payment preferences
An obvious example of a regional payment preference making a significant impact on eCommerce is the explosion in popularity of Alipay in China, but there are less well-known examples of this phenomena in Europe. For example, direct bank transfer is the most common form of online payment in The Netherlands, where paying by invoice has achieved particularly high adoption rates in the DACH region. In our 2018 survey, 29% in Germany had made an online purchase through a pay-by-invoice scheme in the past month, more than the number of online payment with a credit (25%) or debit (20%) card. And in Austria, this figure was even higher, at 38%.

For businesses, particularly those that already or have a desire to expand their customer base internationally adapting to this growing trend will be key to future-proofing their business.
Merchants are buying into a fragmented landscape
What is clear is that most online merchants understand that increasing the number of payment options available in their checkout will play a critical role in future-proofing their businesses.

After credit and debit cards, the most commonly accepted payment method is digital wallets. 43% of online SMBs currently accept digital wallets and this is predicted to rise to 60% by 2020.

Other payment methods that are predicted to be more widely accepted within two years include direct bank transfer and cash replacement systems, adoption of which is predicted to rise by 37% and 50% respectively.

With competitors likely committing to this trend, businesses that do not begin taking steps on the path to more varied payment method acceptance today will struggle to close the product gap as the pace of adoption accelerates, and quickly make themselves uncompetitive in the process.
Grow with a Skrill Wallet
As one of the world's largest digital wallet providers, Skrill makes it easy for consumers to pay quickly with just an email address and password. Adding this facility to your checkout is simple and effective. As well as enabling you to accept card, bank and local payment methods, it connects you with millions of existing Skrill wallet holders.

Skrill has also developed 1-Tap, a single-click payment platform that's ideal for mobile-friendly recurring or in-game payments.

To activate Skrill as a payment gateway please refer to these documentations:
https://docs.whmcs.com/Skrill
https://docs.whmcs.com/Skrill_1-Tap

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