Even with the many innovations across the payments ecosystem, including payment gateway advancements, there’s still friction between consumers and businesses regarding how payments are collected.
When it comes to event booking apps, the greatest benefit to consumers is the ability to book instantly, on-the-go, wherever they are, and without worrying about being glued to a computer when event tickets going on sale. The friction comes into the process because these event booking platforms often collect funds well before the event takes place.
Consumers want to know where their money is going, and the security behind the mobile app they are paying through. If that’s not immediately evident, it creates issues with the customer from the start.
Not only does the concept of paying far in advance often create issues with the customer, it adds complexity on the business side of managing payments — particularly because of the process involved in authorizing payments via a payment gateway.
While the process of paying for an event via an app is intended to ease the burden on the consumer and business, there also is unforeseen consequences that can arise.
Inside the Payment Gateway Process
To understand how the inner working of a payment gateway impacts the payment experience for event booking apps, you must understand the technology of a payment gateway itself.
A payment gateway authorizes credit and debit card payments payments, on behalf of a business, that allows the event booking platform to power payments in order for a consumer to book an event with a particular business. But what happens when that even gets moved, or canceled? What happens to the payments process then?
Or, what happens when the charge made using an event booking app gets questioned or flagged by the consumer, and becomes a chargeback? All of these complicate the payment gateway process, particularly when it comes to authorizing payments for an event booked far in advance. That’s because, beyond the payments authorizing process, there’s also the payments processing stage that needs to happen before a payment is actually collected (or returned).
This type of friction, however, can be alleviated by ensuring your business is relying on a secure, transparent and reputable payment gateway and payment processor to handle transactions. Otherwise, reversing those payments can get complicated and costly.
The Better Payment Gateway Route
What’s needed within the payment gateway ecosystem are processors that create less friction between consumers and businesses that offer event-booking apps. This means systems that enable more flexibility in how and when consumers actually pay for an event.
Far too often consumers become confused by purchases made via a third-party event booking app, which makes them more likely to challenge the sale and file a chargeback. Because of this, it can be helpful to offer more flexible payment methods for consumers to choose within the app, such as in-app payment options that offer online money transfer services like PayPal.
Or, in the case of making the mobile and in-app purchases even more frictionless, relying on a company like Payline can transform your online-booking experience. Through Payline’s diverse solutions, customers not only have the opportunity to transact with a business anywhere and anytime they want, but it also ensures less confusion at checkout — which leads to higher conversion rates.
Plus, when customers know how and when their transactions are processed, you’re more likely to keep your customers happy, which can make managing the payments side of your business easier.
Anna Lothson is a content contributor for Payline Data. She previously wrote for PYMNTS.com, as a Sr. Content Producer, where she focused on financial services and payments innovation, fraud and security, emerging payments, and FinTech news, research and thought-leadership content across the payments industry.
