Ecommerce accounted for nearly 20% of global consumer sales. Choosing banking options that enhance the shopping experience is crucial for online businesses.
A satisfied customer can find the payment method that best suits their needs.
An unfamiliar user will most likely abandon the shopping cart if unfamiliar with the payment method. Therefore, the key to any payment alternative for an online store is to convey trust and clarity. The user must be convinced that their money is safe.
A large volume of transactions is processed through these gateways every day. In most cases, e-commerce integrates immediate, simple, and secure payment processing—or at least it should.
Careful consideration must be given when selecting a good bank alternative because the success of your business is at stake. Below is a list of the best alternative online banking options and the key requirements for making the best decision.
The Top 5 eCommerce Banking Alternatives
1. Juni
We start the countdown with Juni, an online banking alternative that helps with financial control and increasing cash flow with the help of an intelligent management dashboard. This system offers accounts in multiple currencies, cards for virtual use, bank integrations and much more.
The usage fees for currency exchange are quite low with a limit of 0.25%. It also works very closely with Google Ads, automating your receipts for accounting, thus creating the necessary invoices every month with the details of the expenses. With an ecommerce bank like Juni there is no need to directly use Google Ads and its unfriendly interface for this purpose.
2. Novo
It is designed specifically for small business mobile banking. This means that you will not have any technical problems and it can be integrated with most online stores.
All the features are completely free. These include a Mastercard for debit card purchases, unlimited transactions, transaction alerts and ATM refunds. It is considered one of the best online banking offers for businesses. For businesses that require low fees and a straightforward setup, Novo and NorthOne stand out. It’s also beneficial for entrepreneurs to consider not just banking options but various online credit cards. Explore this year’s top online credit cards this year for a financial edge.
If you choose this option, Google Cloud credit and free processing through Stripe are available. If you regularly come up with profitable e-commerce business ideas, you definitely want an account that allows you to grow without much investment.
3. NorthOne
With an average rating of 4.7 across multiple platforms, NorthOne is a modern banking solution for small businesses and freelancers. They offer an FDIC-insured business bank account with API connectivity to PayPal, Square, Quickbooks, and many other tools for online stores.
Even better, it only takes three minutes to set up and for a flat $10 fee, you get unlimited transactions and no hidden fees.
The ease of use of mobile banking is much appreciated. For small businesses and entrepreneurs, it can make all the difference by giving you 24/7 access to your account and reports. You can even apply for additional debit cards for your team in the app. Big names like Shopify’s payout methods and Squarespace work closely with them.
4. Chase for Business
Chase Business Complete (formerly Chase Total Business) is the perfect all-in-one account for an online business just starting out but already striving for success. As one of the 10 largest banks in the world, it also has some of the best offerings for e-commerce businesses.
It includes all the typical offerings such as an extensive ATM network, debit cards, ACH wire transfers and mobile deposits. In addition to a number of incentives they offer for opening an account, they also have a pretty solid mobile app.
There is a $12 monthly fee, but it is waived as long as there is $1,500 in the account on a regular basis. For businesses, this should be easy with good cash management.
5. Axos
This is the oldest online bank in the U.S., where a new business owner receives as much as $100 when opening an account. The accounts are also free and have no minimum balance requirements. It is specifically designed for e-commerce businesses as it has no physical locations, but its money can be accessed from any ATM in the US.
Axos’ drawbacks are that it is limited to 200 free transactions per month, after which it charges $0.30 per transaction. Also, no credit cards are offered and customer service hours are not always convenient.
Top 3 tips on how to choose the best payment gateway for your ecommerce
1. Search for good integration
Selecting the best business bank account for ecommerce startups is crucial. The integration should be tailored to the market dynamics to effectively engage customers. As your service and enterprise flourish, it’s essential that your payment platform evolves in tandem with your customer’s expectations.
You have a choice between hosted, direct-to-consumer published and non-hosted systems. Each of the options has its pros and cons, so it’s necessary to examine both your business and customers’ needs, budget, and long-term goals to make the right decision.
- Hosted payment is one of the best options as it is quite easy to integrate with the business. However, since this platform redirects customers to an external site with the same look and feel as your e-commerce, it can lead to a lack of control and affect conversion rates.
- The direct application method directly favors branding and personalization opportunities without having to comply with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI – DDS). However, this is precisely why customer data can be stolen by cybercriminals and hackers.
- Unhosted payments are very convenient for companies that want to customize the system to their own needs. The downside is that this system is expensive in the short term.
2. Consider the fees for services
Payment gateway providers charge a fee for their service. Generally, the fee is calculated based on the type of digital product and location, but each provider has its own fees and costs.
General fees include account setup, the monthly gateway fee, and your setup fee. There is also a fee for each transaction that is processed.
Depending on the service, there are several ways a system schedules payments:
- Apartment Fee Pricing: the e-commerce provider must pay a fixed percentage for the volume of transactions, regardless of the cost of the payment made by the customer.
- Interchange Pricing: The service provider charges the company a fixed fee in addition to the interchange fees.
- Tiered Pricing: processors take the interchange fees and divide them into three pricing tiers. Since the processor sets the cost, this can be a costly method, especially for smaller businesses.
3. Make sure you have good customer service
It is very important that the chosen payment gateway has 24-hour customer service, where users can solve any problem quickly with the help of a consultant.
This way, you can not only add value to your business, but also take advantage of every opportunity to retain customers, improve your reputation and increase your customer base. You will basically meet all customer service requirements.
One payment gateway that meets all the above requirements is Adyen, which will help you grow your business and provide your customers with a unique experience. Moreover, you will be guided through the entire process of integrating the payment system into your platform.
4. Seek for a good loan system
If you want to finance your business, it helps if a bank can offer you the loans you need because you already have a relationship with them and know their rules. You may not need a small business loan now. But you may need it in the future when your ecommerce brand grows.
If you want to apply for a loan, it’s best to look for banks that specialize in SBA loans. Many banks also specialize in Small Business Administration (SBA) loans, which offer some of the lowest interest rates and longer-term loans.
Choosing the right alternative is looking out for your business
As we have seen, there are several options with good features to manage the billing and payment system of your online store. In short, you should not lose sight of:
- It must be able to synchronize with the platform you use, so as not to interrupt the flow of customers, and provide a secure payment process.
- Enable e-commerce EMV credit card processing, mobile access, easy integration, and omnichannel offerings to accept payments across multiple channels and methods.
- Accept customer payment tracking from anywhere in the world.
- Ease of use for employees, saving you time on training.
- It must have good services and offer a system for handling complaints and claims with a quick response.
- Choose an option that provides the lowest interest rates and the longest term loans.
