Payment Method Choices – What Do People Want

In a recent report compiled by Trustly in 2018 the hot topic was payments. In the ever growing and increasingly competitive sector of e-commerce, this report delved into online payments and offered some insight for online retailers to boost their client loyalty statistics.

The report began with the information that a checkout with only a credit payment method just won’t cut it anymore. Shoppers increasingly look for alternative payment methods and faster refunds when returning an item. The report also found that shoppers see the refund process as a decision as to whether they should continue to shop at that brand or not. Increasing the speed at which refunds are handled could see 58% shoppers spending more, and 56% shopping more frequently at that brand. But what ultimately is the bottom line?

In a survey where the question was asked to the general European market, does the payment method choice affect your decision to purchase with online retailers? The results were an overwhelming yes. In Poland 83% voted yes, while in Spain 96% of the consumer gave a resounding yes. The consumer market from Estonia voted 89% in favour while Sweden’s yes votes was 96%.

For the question, would you like more payment method choices? Poland came in with the highest affirmative vote, 78% while the Spanish voted 75% yes. Estonia voted 71% in favour while Sweden’s yes votes was 61% of the vote.

The third question was,  would you like to have the option to pay by bank payment? Poland voted 94% in favour, Spain voted 68% in favour, Estonia voted 92% in favour , Sweden voted 75% in favour.

Online Consumer Satisfaction

The report stated that market dynamics and consumer sentiment have revealed that better bank transfers will improve e-commerce.

Payment Service Directive 2 was implemented by the European Union to harmonize money transfers in the EU and in a highly regulated sector, players can benefit from safe and secure bank payments. The ultimate goal of this directive is to make payments across borders as simple and easy as it is to transfer money within the same country. The 2018 Trustly research paper statistically proved that 72 % of consumers want a bank transfer option when shopping online.

The same figure was replicated across markets with Poland, Estonia and Finland voting a 90% yes majority. In Denmark where the demand is lowest, over a third of consumers voted yes.

Customer satisfaction would be highly increased simply by introducing a wider range of payment options with less complicated features. Use of authentication has shown to be a barrier to quick and easy online payments.

Brands haven’t been efficiently addressing bank transfers as a real alternative but the rise of internet and mobile banking, and optimization of authentication methods has resulted in one less excuse not to address the issues.

Two thirds of today’s consumers have memorised their bank login details, 74% to be exact, while those who know their card details by heart account for 49%. Mobile-optimized authentication methods like apps and SMS accounts for 64%, and for most consumer, online shopping and paying via bank transfer is has now become very easy to do.

Slow Shipping

The other issue that was addressed has to do with slow shipping, but social media and online services effectively raised consumer awareness and have increased impulse buying. The report outlined the urgency to accommodate shoppers’ desire for immediate gratification, and the ability of merchants to receive instant notification of payments allowing them to offer guaranteed same-day shipping. The report summarised that Customers expect delivery without delays and only use payment methods that are processed and confirmed instantly.

Refunds

Regarding refunds, the report said that 69% of consumers confirmed that their average waiting time is four or more days. Processing refunds quickly and flawlessly is a core factor that affects customer experience. Many companies overlook this as they feel that a free returns policy is sufficient.

Making clients wait for refunds means they’ll delay their next purchase. Shortening the refund time would have a direct impact on sales, 58% of customers would spend more and 56% would shop more frequently.

The refund process directly impacts how consumers feel about a brand as well as impact brand loyalty. A resounding 65% claimed the speed and ease of refund affects where they choose to shop, while 95% said same-day refunds would make them more loyal to a merchant. 75% of consumers said they were open to new payment methods if it meant faster refunds.

The report cautioned businesses to introduce direct online bank payments as 95% of consumers said they would be more loyal to a merchant if they received same-day refunds.

Of all the consumers asked the question, would you spend more online if you Faster refunds received refunds faster than today? Poland voted 78% in favour, Spain 74% in favour,  Estonia 65% in favour and Sweden 49% in favour.

The report said that the industry has neglected optimizing e-commerce and the reality is that online commerce has changed consumer behaviour. Refunds and exchanges have become more important in the digital world as shoppers can’t see or touch the products.

Bank Payments

The question was posed, how often do you shop online? 68% of consumers said that they shop online three times or less per month. Compared to high street shopping figures, the shopping frequency is an untapped market filled with potential for e-commerce growth. On another survey it was proved that consumers in Nordic countries shop less than UK and German citizens. The document surmised that transitioning to bank payments with the benefit of faster refunds would be an easy way for merchants to increase the shopping frequency

Instant Withdrawals Online Casino

The survey was to test the hypothesis that payments, specifically fast payments, can create player value for a sample size of 1,700 across Spain, Poland, UK, Germany, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands and Estonia. The question was asked, do you support instant withdrawals, a resounding 94% said yes.

Online casino players don’t have a feeling of instant gratification like experienced at land based casinos. Usually a player at land casino wins and walks away with their winnings instantly while online casino players have to wait up to a few days.

The study focused its findings on the power of fast payments, as opposed to old school thinking that instant withdrawal reduce revenue. The study found that on average, 80% of players would play more often if they were offered instant withdrawals. In Spain, more than 90% of players would play more while in Finland and Spain this figure reached 99%.

The second key finding of the Trustly study was that 78% of all casino players felt more comfortable paying their deposits via bank transfer.

Fast Withdrawals – e-Wallets

No one wants to start playing at their new favourite online casino, make a large deposit, take part in promotions and all the tournaments on offer only to find that the withdrawal process is slow and tedious. Many casinos these days are making their withdrawal process simpler and faster to meet the demand of the casino players.

An e-wallet, also known as an electronic wallet or digital wallet, is an online prepaid account that allows payments and money transfers to be made through the internet with just the click of a mouse. eWallets remove the need to keep typing in your financial details, as they have already been stored within your account. E-wallets have become increasingly popular within the online gaming industry as they are by far the most convenient way to withdraw and deposit your money.

The most popular eWallet companies include Skrill (previously Moneybookers), Neteller, Click and Buy, UKash and Paypal and while some online casinos may offer all of these options to deposit and withdraw, others may only provide one or two. The most common and easy to find eWallet at online casinos is Skrill and Neteller, both very efficient banking systems to send and receive money worldwide securely and at a low cost and with no need to reveal your personal financial details.

E-wallets save online players a lot of time, as they don’t need to keep pulling out their credit card for deposits. All the player banking information is already pre-loaded in their account. Personal details like name, address, date of birth and contact details are also pre-loaded into the account.

Minimum Deposit Casino Using Skrill

Many online casinos don’t offer the option of making a low deposit of €$1, €$5 or €$10, and among the ones that do, sifting your way through online casinos that are licensed and regulated can take a long time and be very confusing. As technology and casino software keeps improving, we’ll begin seeing more and more low budget real money online casinos.

How to Create an eWallet Account

eWallets provide users with the ability to store multiple credit cards, debit cards and bank account information. This makes your deposit faster and more efficient. Players simply need to head off to the eWallet provider, set up an account and fill out the relevant account information forms. Players can then input their eWallet information when making their casino real money deposit.

Conclusion

The document concludes that the consumer has an appetite for greater choice at checkout and that adding bank payments can only positively impact new customer acquisition and revenue.