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Online payments: An introduction

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The GoCardless content team comprises a group of subject-matter experts in multiple fields from across GoCardless. The authors and reviewers work in the sales, marketing, legal, and finance departments. All have in-depth knowledge and experience in various aspects of payment scheme technology and the operating rules applicable to each. The team holds expertise in the well-established payment schemes such as UK Direct Debit, the European SEPA scheme, and the US ACH scheme, as well as in schemes operating in Scandinavia, Australia, and New Zealand. See full bio

Last editedApr 20231 min read

When it comes to online payments, the methods you offer your customers can have a big impact on your success.

Online payments, especially recurring online payments, form a fundamental part of many businesses' revenue streams. However, each online payment method has distinct advantages and disadvantages. What might be well-suited to one kind of product, service or market, may be unsuitable for another.

This is critical. Many businesses that take recurring payments or subscription payments undervalue the strategic significance of which online payment methods they offer their customers. The way you accept payment from your customers impacts not only your revenue, but the growth of your business.

How to collect payments with GoCardless

1.

Create your free GoCardless account, access your user-friendly payments dashboard & connect your accounting software (if you use one).

2.

Easily set up & schedule one-off or recurring payments via payment pages on your website checkout or secure payment links.

3.

From now on you'll get paid on time, every time, as GoCardless automatically collects payment on the scheduled date. Simple.

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This guide will help you more deeply understand your options for taking online payments, covering:

Which online payment methods are available
How they work
Frequently asked questions about online payments
How your choice of payment method affects your business
How to choose which online payment method is best for you

No single online payment method is perfect in all cases, but this guide will help you identify those that are best-suited to your business.

What are online payments?

Online payments are payments that are initiated over the internet for goods or services purchased either online or offline. Common methods to facilitate this include:

Bank debit via online mandate (also referred to as Direct Debit or ACH debit)
Bank transfers (also referred to as wire transfers)
Online credit or debit card transactions
Digital wallet payments (such as PayPal)

Payments can be one-off (e.g. e-commerce transactions like purchasing clothing) or recurring (e.g. subscriptions to services like Netflix or Spotify).

How do I take online payments for my business?

For your business to take online payments you can either take them directly yourself or pay an intermediary to take them. Each approach has its merits, as this guide will explain.

What the process for taking online payments looks like depends on the payment method. The following entities are typically involved:

Your customer
Your customer’s bank (or other entity that holds the funds they’re paying with - e.g. a digital wallet like PayPal)
Your business (often referred to as the ‘merchant’ - we’ll use these terms interchangeably in this guide)
Your business’ bank
Organizations that help authorize and process the transaction, resulting in the funds being transferred from customer to merchant

In the following pages of this chapter, we explore the payment process for four common online payment methods - ACH debit, bank transfers, credit and debit card, and digital wallets.