(Newswire.net — August 23, 2017) — A cloud based finance service provides a more holistic overview of your finances and improves collaboration with team members.
Cloud based technology is the only way to be competitive. Even when it comes to financial solutions, it is an essential investment as it helps you in managing the entire payment process with ease. Direct debits make receiving funds a faster and more efficient process.
But in order to understand the benefits of the cloud based direct debit solution, let’s take a look at why you should choose direct debit in the first place.
What is Direct Debit?
Direct Debit is one of the most effective and efficient ways for businesses to collect payments from their customers.
After the setup and authorisation by the customers, the direct debit system allows businesses to draw payments directly from the bank accounts of their customers. This way your business is in full control of the amount they collect and when they want to collect the payment.
At present, almost 60,000 different organisations are using direct debit services to collect a wide range of payments from their customers. This includes membership subscriptions, charitable donations, utility bills, and regular back-to-back payments among its many uses. Transactions worth trillions of dollars take place through this service every year.
The cloud technology makes data accessible to users anywhere, anytime and on any device. Your hard drive is no longer the central hub.
Direct Debit Is a Versatile Method of Payment
One of the best things about a direct debit system is how widely it can be used. It improves the payment system of a broad range of business giving advantages such as the option to receive fixed subscriptions or membership payments. Owing to the low costs, the direct debit system makes it extremely well suited to businesses that need to collect fixed payments on a weekly or monthly basis for subscriptions and memberships.
Direct debit is perfect for companies that send regular and variable bills to customers depending on their usage. Once the direct debit has been set up, utility bills, mobile phone bills and council tax payments can be made quickly and easily.
Direct debit is a convenient, affordable, and safe method of collecting one-off payments as well. The customer protection provided by the Direct Debit Guarantee makes it the safest payment system in the U.K.
Why the Cloud is Better
When compared to cloud-based solutions, traditional software has plenty of drawbacks. They usually work on one computer and data bounces from place to place. The software is expensive, time-consuming, and difficult to upgrade.
On the other hand, switching to a cloud based software has numerous benefits. You can access it from any device provided that you have an internet connection. The software can also integrate with a whole ecosystem of add-ons and is scalable, cost effective, and easy to use.
Why You Should Consider Incorporating Direct Debit Payments through Cloud Based Software
1. Control of payments
In the UK, almost 85 percent of small and medium sized businesses have to unwillingly wait beyond the invoice terms for money that rightfully belongs to them. Late payments have catastrophic effects on a business and are also one of the prime cause of corporate insolvencies. There is also an added cost of tracking and chasing late payers. The impact of such issues and problems can be reduced by introducing a direct debit payment system through which businesses can regain control of their payments and manage cash flow more effectively.
2. Cost effective method
Using cloud based finance service lowers the cost of reconciliation, making it cheaper than cheques and safer than cash. The expensive card network can be avoided, making it more cost-effective when compared to other payment methods. Choose software providers that have an SaaS model, as that will mean fixed subscription fees. One provider of direct debit services who have this model is Access Pay which you can read more about here. Their SaaS model also means you get free upgrades on the software and no additional charges.
3. Flexibility
Cloud based solutions gives businesses the freedom and flexibility to collect payments of variable amounts whenever they arise and there is also no need to seek authorisation from the customer. This gives businesses the liberty to change the prices or charge variable amounts relating to usage without incurring any additional expense or any extra administrative work.
With a cloud based direct debit solution, you can easily set it up and start managing the payment process with ease.