From old barter systems to cash, cards to digital payment systems, India has experienced a transformation. Cash-based economies can be transformed into cashless economies through digitization. Digital payments have proven to be the most beneficial for small-scale businesses. Online payment methods have been ranked first among all the strategies used by these organizations to enhance their performance. The COVID-19 pandemic, according to a recent RBI annual report, has fuelled digital payment modalities. This recent increase, if talking in numbers, is about 80 percent. Mobile networks, the internet, and electricity are all boosting the reach of digital payments to more remote areas. As a result, it is safe to assume that the future transaction system will be cashless.
The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) is the umbrella organization for all digital payment transactions, established on the initiative of the RBI and the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) under the Payment and Settlement Act 2007. In India, it looks after the digital payments and represents the true transition of the digital payment system.
Payment Links – Get Paid with a Click
A payment link is any link that a person can click within an internet browser, email, text message, social media, or app to make a payment online to a specific recipient. They enable rapid payments while also giving clients a more comfortable payment method. There are majorly 3 types of payment links:
- A one-time link that a customer receives over an SMS, email, chat, social media, or another method.
- Invoice link that a customer receives through email.
- The ‘Buy button’ on an eCommerce website, clicking on which the customer is taken to the payment portal.
How does a payment link work?
The working of payment links is a straightforward process. The basic steps are – Creating a payment link, sharing it, and receiving the payment right away.
Elaborating further:
- The merchant creates and shares the payment link with the customer.
- The merchant shares this payment link.
- The customer receives the link, clicks on it and is then redirected to the secure payment page by the link.
- The customer then makes an online payment via the offered methods (wallet, UPI, cards, net banking, etc.).
- Merchant then receives notification after successful payment.
Benefits of Using a Payment Link
Here are some of the benefits of payment links:
- Makes the payment process easier – Users’ payment processes have been streamlined, and businesses can now close deals more successfully and swiftly.
- Real time payments – Customers can now pay in real-time with the help of payment links by just clicking on the link shared with them. Not only that, but payment links also facilitate the process of registering the purchase on payment systems like Zaakpay almost immediately upon the successful transaction.
- Ensures safety and convenience – Ensures a completely safe and user-friendly payment process that leaves no room for doubt.
- Working on an international scale – It’s ideal for receiving or transmitting foreign currency payments. Whether it’s for a friend or to pay for a service, the person who receives the money has the option to accept it and convert it, not to change it to another currency or to refuse it.
- The ability to choose from a variety of sales channels – These payment buttons can be included directly in a promotional message on any messenger you use for marketing purposes.
How to create a payment link?
It’s just as easy to make these links as it is to use them. The steps include:
- First, you need to access the payment link form. For that, you need to go to the dashboard of your chosen payment gateway, such as Zaakpay, and click on the payment link symbol.
- You have the option of receiving payment in one of the 153 available currencies. Give your customer the reference you want to give them and the wording that appears on the payment page. Finally, you may specify the page URL to which your consumers should be forwarded after completing the transaction.
- Present your consumers with the automatically produced URL at the bottom of the page. Transactions done using it will be credited to your account immediately.
What kind of businesses could benefit from payment links?
Pay by link could help merchants who handle phone transactions reduce the danger of accepting payments over the phone. Retailers, travel agencies, hotels, florists, catering firms, restaurants, takeaways, and internet shops, to mention a few, may find this to be particularly advantageous. You can take online payments using the Pay by link even if you don’t have a website or a webshop, which saves you money and time in the payment process. Furthermore, B2B companies can optimize their cash flow by allowing their customers to pay their invoices faster and more conveniently.
Conclusion
To summarise, digital payment systems are the future of commerce, and payment through links will soon become the most popular payment method due to its numerous advantages. Not only are online transactions handy for consumers, but they are also desired by retailers. The cashless transition is not only safer but also saves time. It also helps you keep track of all your transactions. As of 2021, India has over 825 million active mobile connections and over 170 million smartphone users. With higher internet speeds, this figure will rise even further.
