As of December 2022, there are over 13 million credit cards in circulation in Australia, and over 38 million debit cards. Since there are only almost 26 million people in Australia as of June 2022, chances are each person has multiple cards. However, it is safe to assume that some people don’t have credit cards. Not to mention people who are not eligible to have a credit card, whether because they are under 18 years old or there are other reasons resulting in their applications getting rejected.
This data means some of your potential customers may be unable to pay via credit cards. So if the only payment option your business offers is credit card, you may be losing business from more than a half of the Australian population.
Let’s explore what the two common payment methods, credit card and bank transfer - also accessible as debit card or direct debit payment, mean for your business and your customers.
Bank transfer is what we refer to when a customer pays by sending the money directly from their bank account. Since transferring money from one’s bank account is convenient, and most people are guaranteed to have a bank account, offering payment via bank transfer is a sure way to reach more customers.
So why are some business owners reticent regarding enabling bank transfer as a payment method for their business?
Some businesses may handle their finances manually. This makes bank transfer payment more of a hassle than processing transactions from other payment methods. Hence business owners who conclude that the effort of managing bank transfer payments outweigh the revenue that comes with enabling this payment method tend to opt to remove the option altogether.
Some business owners may insist on only offering credit cards as their payment options. We’ve discussed the inconvenience of bank transfer for a business in the above section, as well as the reasons some customers prefer to pay via bank transfer.
So in this section we’ll delve further into why some businesses prefer credit card payments.
Credit card payments are regarded as a faster and more secure payment option by many business owners. Moreover, accepting credit cards is seen as a way to make their businesses seem more legit and professional.
But it doesn’t have to be a “credit card” vs “bank transfer” debate. After all, having more payment options often leads to more revenue. And since PayTo enables business owners to accept real-time payments from their customers’ bank accounts, all they have to do is sign up for PayTo for Business by PayChoice.
With PayTo, a customer’s bank account transfer can be accepted by the business instantly. This means the business owner enjoys a credit card transaction’s speed and security, and the customer enjoys the convenience of transferring money directly from their bank account.
Offering more payment options is the recommended business practice, as customers tend to abandon their cart if they don’t find the payment option they want. But is the captured revenue from having abundant payment options worth the extra cost and hassle of handling all those separate payment solutions?
No worries, with PayChoice you can offer any payment methods - Direct Debits, Payment Gateways (eg. PayPal), eCommerce Payments, Credit Cards, Bank Transfer (PayTo), and BPAY - in one payment solution.
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