What is recurring billing?
Recurring billing is an automated payment deductible on a regular basis. These payments are part of regular deliveries of goods or services, which can be indefinite or for a fixed period. Recurring bills work both for the customer and the business owner. For example, a recurring customer who regularly buys your product or service can set up a recurring payment with you. For the business owner, you save time by not having to run that card each time they are set to pay you.
Before setting up recurring payments, you typically need to get the payee’s consent first. Then, you’d also need to have access to a trustworthy payment platform as well as some essential information like bank details, payment frequency, and period duration.
Benefits of recurring billing
Recurring billing benefits business owners in a few ways. First, you no longer need to manually prepare and send invoices. No matter if you’re paying or receiving the bill, having automated payment ready means you’d be saving much precious time for something more useful. Also, having everything automated means you’d save yourself much hassle and stress. Gone are the days where you needed to file in tedious invoicing and follow up on your payments. With recurring billing, once you reach the payment date, you’d know that everything is sorted. At the same time, without the need to fill in and chase everything manually, you’d also minimize human error in the payment process.
Take an online food shop for example. The shop owner has a loyal customer base who particularly likes the product and wants a new supply delivered to their homes every week. There is also a large pool of goods and services on which the business depends, from raw materials, packaging to delivery. In this case, the owner can use recurring billing to help with servicing and operations. They can charge recurring customers every month and deliver a new box of goodies to their door, as well as paying for the essential services that keep the business running. The stress-free and happy owner can focus on expanding the business and creating that blog post that was always on their mind.
Who should use this service?
Recurring billing is suitable for businesses with recurring customers or suppliers. Ideally, you should have:
- a set group of recurring suppliers that your business depends on, and
- a solid customer base that buys your goods or services regularly
How to choose the right platform
Before you start setting up recurring billings for your businesses, it is crucial to look around and evaluate different options. Finding the payment platform may take time, but it is worthwhile and can help you save time and money in the long run. Here are a few essential factors:
- Pricing model: every payment platform may charge their recurring bills differently. While some may use a flat-rate or tiered subscription model, others may charge a particular percentage from each transaction. Remember to consider how much you’d pay based on these models, and pick one that is right for your business.
- The number of bills supported: some platforms may not support an unlimited amount of payments, payers or recipients, or may incur extra fees once you pay or send more than a certain amount of invoices. Do check the fine prints so you won’t pay more than you plan to.
- Dashboards and reports: an effective platform should not only handle your transactions but also gives you insights on the payment side of things. It is crucial to choose a platform with dashboards and reports, so you’re always one step ahead for peak seasons like Christmas, Black Friday, and other peak seasons, and identify any other trends.
- Integration with other systems: make sure this billing system can integrate with other systems you already have in place so that you can avoid any technical issues and inconvenience
- Tech support: every system will run into issues at some point in time, but what kind of support will you get? Always pick a platform that provides adequate customer service and tech assistance so you know you’ll be looked after when there’s an issue.
Great! Now how to start?
Want to get started? Our services at Payline are here to help, we can help you sort out your recurring payments. You can focus on growing your business and providing the best experience for your customers.
Payline supports more than 200 integrations and can work with your new and existing shopping carts, all with no additional fees or long-term contracts. We also store and tokenize your payment information securely, so you can check out, refund, or bill your customers and suppliers with ease.
To have a better idea of your transactions, you can view our dashboards and clean documentations. Everything is interactive and easy to read, and we’re always ready to support your needs.
At Payline, we have needs in mind as your eCommerce payment partner. Speak with us today or schedule a demo.
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