Payments over the phone

We are a very very small business and our largest customer now requires to pay over the phone! This isn't something that we have any experience of.

I need the cheapest and easiest way to do this and I do not know where to start. Can anyone recommend any products/companies to look at and also what the expected fees would be? If there any free facilities I can use, or any with low rates? How difficult is it to accommodate this?

Many thanks,

Comments

  • If you already accept card payments, then the easiest way will be for you to contact the company that provided you with the card payment terminal and ask them. Any card processing company will be able to give you the facility to take card payments over the phone, it is quite straight forward as long as you behave responsibly with the very sensitive information that you will be handling and follow the instructions they give you on how to check for fraud etc.

    If you don't already accept card payments, look for a company that does that. Don't deal with anyone who contacts you first, or anyone who states that they "specialise in working with small businesses" - this is a code phrase that means they specialise in working with inexperienced, gullible people :rotfl:Also anything that offers you a discount or commission if you sell their services on is generally bad news, because successful companies don't have to do that.
    Alternatively, you can always use PayPal to take payments online. It's easy to use, fairly straightforward once you get used to it, and depending on your company size can be quite cheap.
    Well informed on the subjects of sofas and wood furniture, and well opinionated on everything else :rotfl:
  • Savvy_Sue
    Savvy_Sue Posts: 45,936
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    Would it be worth taking to YOUR bank about whether it is possible for someone to make payments by phone?

    Although it does seem bizarre to me ...
    Signature removed for peace of mind
  • Thiona
    Thiona Posts: 11 Forumite
    edited 4 October 2019 at 8:44AM
    We are a very very small business and our largest customer now requires to pay over the phone! This isn't something that we have any experience of.

    I need the cheapest and easiest way to do this and I do not know where to start. Can anyone recommend any products/companies to look at and also what the expected fees would be? If there any free facilities I can use, or any with low rates? How difficult is it to accommodate this?

    Many thanks,

    It sounds very odd to me that any customer, let alone a large one, is insisting on only paying you over the phone.

    It's potentially a very risky method of accepting payments, as it's open to challenge by the person being charged. So you probably need telephone recording and retention at the very very least, as well as a robust identity procedure.

    I suggest you remind the customer of your existing payment methods available to them, all of which your other customers are content to use not to mention this one alos was until now, and explore why none of those are any longer acceptable to them.
    If they still insist on changing the payment method in future, as I said to a method that is rather odd and not without risk, you may wish to reflect on why and decide if you wish to continue to supply to this particular customer on their new revised terms.
  • Annisele
    Annisele Posts: 4,827
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    Yep, as others have said - "cheapest and easiest" aren't the only things to take into account here.


    "Cardholder not present" transactions are relatively risky. For example, you could get an order, accept payment by card over the phone, send out the goods, then find there was some problem with the card and its owner did a chargeback.



    There are lots of situations where it makes tons of sense for a business to accept the risks (Amazon would fall over tomorrow if it refused to take them). But it does seem very odd for a customer who has happily been paying by some other method to suddenly start insisting on paying by phone.
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