Though they come with certain risks, PayPal and credit card are among the most popular online payment methods. Adding them to your check-out process – with proper anti-fraud protection in place – can have great benefits for your bottom line.
Businesses selling online are often wary of accepting credit card payments or popular methods like PayPal. Typical concerns surrounding high fees, and fraud, have often stymied many a merchant's efforts to increase revenue.
The truth, however, is that expanding your available payment methods, especially with popular options like PayPal and credit card, is actually one of the easiest ways to increase sales and boost profits.
Here are two often overlooked reasons to start accepting payment via PayPal and credit card:
#1 Expand your total addressable market
The European single market consists of 31 states and has a population of nearly 450 million people. The value of e-commerce retail revenue in Europe has been estimated at approximately 430 billion euros. For European businesses willing to look for customers beyond their own national borders, the revenue potential is truly boundless.
If you’re hoping to reap the benefits of the world’s largest single market area, then improving your checkout experience by adding payment methods that are universally accepted is a good place to start.
Accepting PayPal and credit card payments will also help lay the groundwork for an expansion into other massive markets like the United States, where credit cards have been the preferred payment method for decades.
#2 Customers want to pay via PayPal and credit card
When it comes to making online payments, customers like to have options. The more payment options available to them, the fewer the reasons they have not to go through with a purchase.
While many countries have their own preferred local payment methods, e.g. iDeal in the Netherlands or Sofort in Germany, nothing beats PayPal and credit cards as the most versatile and universally accepted payment methods.
If you’re looking at your website stats and wondering why revenue is falling flat, despite having ticked all the boxes regarding UX/UI, it’s probably time to seriously consider adding more payment methods to your check-out.
Offering a wide range of payment options is an easy way to reduce cart abandonment and goes a long way toward increasing high customer satisfaction.
Recommended reading: How reducing friction at checkout boosts conversions
What about the risks?
Unfortunately, it is true that PayPal and credit cards have somewhat of a negative reputation when it comes to fraud risk. However, this is only an issue if these payment methods are implemented without additional fraud protection. That's where anti-fraud solutions like Alphacomm’s own Protectmaxx come in.
The right anti-fraud tool will do more than simply protect against attacks by fraudsters. For instance, Protectmaxx is also able to maximize profit by intelligently applying SCA exceptions when appropriate, making sure you don't introduce unnecessary 3DS2-friction at checkout.
Other benefits to look for in a high-quality payment fraud protection service include a 100% chargeback guarantee, access to a dedicated revenue manager, full compliance with GDPR, and the use of advanced supervised Machine Learning to detect trends, optimize algorithms, and update schemas.
Recommended reading: How to combat payment fraud without losing revenue
Secure your revenue today
For online businesses looking to grow their revenue, accepting PayPal and credit cards is a crucial step. However, care must be taken to ensure that you get all the benefits, without any of the potential drawbacks, e.g. fraud risks or high fees.
Interested in safely expanding your payment methods? Get in touch with Alphacomm today for a non-binding consultation with one of our top revenue ambassadors.
