Payment links are often advertised as the most flexible way to collect payments from customers. This is true for both businesses and individuals because you can insert a payment link virtually anywhere. 

Payment links are built in a way that allows them to be easily modified to respond to altered circumstances. They are a readily adaptable payment solution. 

In this article, we will explore some scenarios where payment links essentially save the day. However, before we get into that, let’s briefly discuss payment links.

To put it in the simplest way possible, a payment link is a URL that businesses or individuals can use to accept payments from customers anywhere. 

By just clicking the link, the customer goes from the point of contact to the page where they can complete the payment, making it by far the least complicated payment collection tool.

Selling via messaging apps

Imagine an online sneaker business that sells most of its products on WhatsApp. After the complex process of getting a customer through the sales funnel, the business needs to provide a straightforward payment method. If the payment method is not straightforward, the business risks losing that payment because people change their minds quickly.

A payment link lets the business quickly and efficiently collect payments for its sneakers in the chat. By just clicking on the link, the customer is redirected to the payments page, and after the payment is completed, they return to the chat. This simple yet essential payment solution will significantly improve the business’s conversion rate.

Freelancers and remote work

Freelancers want to be paid immediately after they have delivered on their end of the bargain. As a freelancer, it is important to have a flexible payment method that enables you to get paid anytime and anywhere, regardless of the platform where you communicate with the client. It does not get much more flexible than a payment link. 

As a freelancer, you should always have your payment link on standby so nobody has excuses for being unable to pay you. If you work internationally, you should have a multi currency-enabled payment link so that getting paid is always seamless. 

Businesses can leverage Fincra’s multicurrency capabilities to offer freelancers and remote workers the ability to get paid for their services in different currencies. 

Selling on social media platforms

Social Media is a big deal now, and it will only get bigger. As a business trying to reach a broader audience, having a social media account is almost non-negotiable. Let’s take a business that sells clothes on Instagram, for example. 

If the business has a very good social media strategy and really attractive clothes, then its Instagram page would get a significant amount of traffic. However, all this goes to waste if the business does not provide a quick and easy payment method when the potential customer’s interest peaks. 

Social media platforms like Instagram allow pages to put links in their bios. This enables businesses to provide their payment link to their entire audience at the same time. People who are interested in the products on the page can simply click on the link in the bio and make a payment.

The business can also send someone a link on social media as a direct message, enabling them to close out a transaction. The opportunities are endless with payment links.

Substitute for POS Terminals

This particular case scenario applies to offline businesses. Every business owner who accepts in-person payments will admit to having had a POS Terminal issue at some point in their operations.

Whether they did not have a POS Terminal or the one they had was faulty for a period of time, which meant they could not accept card payments. This would have been an easy fix if they had a payment link.

If a business has its payment link readily available, customers can make card payments via the link during POS downtimes. This is a game changer for in-person payments because so many customers use their cards to make payments. Plugging that payment hole could make all the difference.

The internet is now as dynamic as ever and the payment link is a versatile tool that businesses can use to collect online payments. 

The payment link enables businesses to be as dynamic as the internet, quickly sharing links that customers can make use to make payments with different methods. 

Fincra offers payment links for businesses to receive payments via cards, mobile money and bank transfers. 

Get started with Fincra and get access to payment links that solve business headaches.