Five Reasons to Choose an Integrated Payment Solution

Getting paid doesn’t have to be complicated. With payments being an integral part of your rental business, the process must be as easy and instant as possible. In this article, we provide five reasons why integrating your payments with your rental software can translate to simplified operations with happier customers and a happier team. Let’s dig in!

1) Increase Cash Flow
Getting customers to pay invoices on time can be challenging. When contracted receivables age over 90 days, it’s difficult to recover the payment. Waiting on cheques to arrive in the mail or e-transfers to be completed is tedious and time-consuming, ultimately squeezing your cash flow.

With integration, you unlock new and better methods to manage your payments. Some examples include:
- Offering a wider variety of payment options to customers.
- Collecting invoice payments directly through a self-service web portal.
- Sending invoices through email with a 'pay here' link.
- Applying payments to Accounts Receivable and General Ledger as they are collected without needing to manually reconcile.

2) Reduce Human Error
Whether it is recording details incorrectly, entering the wrong amount in your payment terminal, or applying the wrong data to accounts, mistakes are just bound to happen.

With integration between your payment terminals and rental software, transaction totals are displayed on the card reader without any manual entry. This can eliminate errors and improve day-to-day reconciliation by removing any discrepancies between what was invoiced, and what was collected.

For repeat business, you can securely store customer credit card and bank account information on file. This minimizes the time spent re-entering information for every transaction. You now can get paid faster, capture payments during rental returns, or implement cycle-billing. Additionally, you will automatically be notified if cards have been lost, stolen, or expired, reducing the possibility of declines.

3) Optimize Workflow
Streamline transactions by eliminating manual steps that take up a large amount of time. With real-time information shared between your rental software and payment processor, workflows are optimized for every transaction in-person, over the phone, and online.

"We are able to get customers in and out of the store much quicker. Now that we are taking deposits rather than pre-authorizations, we are able to ensure payment is received at the beginning of every contract" says DJ Robertson, owner of Robertson Rental-All, when discussing his recent experiences with integrated payment processing.

In the back office, manually inputting payments in your accounting system takes a significant amount of effort. Utilizing integrated payments reduces the need for double entry, allowing you to shift resources from data entry chores to areas that accelerate business growth and profitability.

4) Improve Customer Experience
More than ever, your customers want to be in charge of their payments. Now, you can easily provide that convenience for them.

Whether it is through a self-service option, using a digital “pay here’ link, or offering opt-in to auto-pay, your customers will enjoy the flexibility and convenience. In addition, with less manual entry involved, you will have more time to focus on those most important to your company.

5) Strengthen Security
As a business owner, it can be extremely easy to overlook outdated workflows. I mean, we’ve all heard that if it isn’t broken, why fix it?

However, with data breaches increasing, mishandling credit card information can have a severe, long-lasting impact on your business. Setting yourself up for success while mitigating risk is the best option.

Using a PCI DSS compliant solution integrated protects your business by tokenizing bank account and credit card details. This means you can collect payments without ever storing the actual credit card or bank account details in your system. Now, you can easily reassure your customers that all their data is protected.

Here at Texada, we are thrilled to provide our customers with a platform that includes a powerful payment integration, Texada Pay. If you’re interested in learning more, please contact us at success@texadasoftware.com or visit texadasoftware.com/texada-pay.