We all know that business success depends greatly on how healthy your cash flow is. One of the components is how quick you can get paid by your customers, which is why we’ve decided to dedicate this blog post to help you choose the right payment tools for your business so that you can get paid quicker with the least amount of effort.
Here are four payment tools that you may want to check out:
Accepting Payments
1. PayFast: Online Payments
PayFast is the South African leader for accepting payments instantly and securely online. It’s easy to use, and the money can be in your bank pretty quick.
You can accept payments globally via PayFast, but only in Rand. If you invoice your overseas clients in Dollars or any other currency, they still need to pay you via an international bank transfer (or wire transfer), or you can use PayPal. This limitation is due to Reserve Bank regulations, and we don’t expect this to change anytime soon.
Who it is for:
Anyone who wants to accept payments online: eCommerce sites, subscription services, or just to add an easier payment option to your Xero invoice.
Features:
- Payment methods include debit and credit cards, Instant EFT, Bitcoin, Masterpass, and mobicred
- Integrate with your shopping cart through sites like Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento, and a bunch of others
- Add your own ‘Pay Now’ buttons to your website
- Use for once-off payments, or set up recurring subscription/retainer type payments
- Link PayFast with your Xero account to add a payment link directly to your Xero invoice
- Request payments via email: your clients will receive an email with a clickable link
Integrations:
- Xero
- Shopify
- WooCommerce
- Magento
- And many more
Pricing:
There are no set-up or monthly fees with PayFast. They charge an amount per transaction with a specific rate for the different payment methods. They also charge a payout fee to transfer your money to your bank account. Find out more about their rates here.
2. Yoko: Card Payments
You will no longer have to use sentences like “Sorry, we only accept cash”, or “This card machine, which is costing me an arm and a leg, is struggling to establish a connection with the mother ship, so please wait a few light seconds more for the payment to go through”, on a daily basis.
There are a bunch of reasons why we wanted to add Yoko to this list, apart from it being proudly South African, but the three main features that stand out for us, are these:
- It’s quick: Yoko is much faster than the traditional card machines you still see everywhere you shop.
- It’s portable: The card reader links to your mobile device, so you can literally use it anywhere. If you do a pop-up shop at a festival, or you’re called out to fix the plumbing at a client’s house, you want Yoko by your side.
- It’s affordable: You pay for your Yoko device once, not renting it, and their transaction costs are pretty decent.
Who it is for:
Anybody who wants to get paid via debit or credit card, especially if you’re going to take it with you wherever you go.
Features:
- Link to both iOS and Android devices
- Accepts both debit and credit cards
- Accepts payments anywhere
- Works with any bank
Integrations:
- Xero
- Vend
- iKentoo
Pricing:
There is a once-off cost to buy the card reader. Prices start at R1,999, and it has a 30-day money back guarantee. Transaction fees work on a sliding scale and it gets cheaper the more you use it. (Pricing accurate at time of publishing.)
Point of Sale (POS)
3. Vend: Point-of-Sale & Inventory Management
Vend is based in Auckland, New Zealand but is available globally. It is quickly gaining popularity in South Africa, and for good reason. Here are some of those reasons:
- Access your store anywhere, anytime: Vend is cloud-based, which means you can sign into the system from anywhere.
- Simple to use: Vend has a simple interface, and works not only on your Mac or PC, but also on your iPad.
- Trade offline: When the power goes out, Vend keeps on working.
- Easy to scale: Add new staff members, registers, and locations in a jiffy.
Who it is for:
Retail businesses.
Features:
- Works offline, and will automatically resync once you’re online again
- Customise receipts with your logo and other information
- Intuitive and easy to use
- Works on iPad, Mac, or PC and syncs in the cloud
- Laybys and on-account sales
- Returns, refunds, and store credit
- Cash management
- Inventory management
- Loyalty programs
- Real-time reporting
Integrations:
- Xero
- Shopify
- PayPal
- Custom API
- And more
Pricing:
You can choose to pay monthly or annually. Prices start at $69/month (annual plan). Have a look at their prices to see which plan works best for you.
Vend also has a free version available should you have 10 or fewer products with no more than 1,000 users.
4. iKentoo: Point-of-Sale
iKentoo is the go-to point-of-sale system for the hospitality industry. It is a Swiss-based company but is available globally. iKentoo is a popular system in South Africa, so they have a specific site dedicated to us.
Here are some of the reasons why iKentoo is popular:
- It is iPad based and has a self-ordering option available, which means customers can quickly order whenever they want to.
- It’s easy to use – ordering and payment-processing are pretty quick.
- Their multi-site option means that whenever you start a new branch, menus and POS settings are instantly shared to the new branch.
Who it is for:
Anybody in the hospitality industry, like restaurants, bars, hotels, food trucks, and festivals.
Features:
- Self-ordering options
- Automated stock-keeping
- Loyalty programs and cards
- CRM features to email receipts and specials to clients
- Bill-splitting
- Offline-mode – continue to work without an internet connection
- Back-office management portal for a detailed view of your business performance
Integrations:
- Xero
- Yoko
- Zapper
Pricing and free trial:
They do not display their South African prices on their website. You can request a quote here.
If you need any help choosing the best tools for your business, payment-related or otherwise, get in touch with us.