As we embark on the second of the three-phased approach to resume economic activities safely, many businesses in Singapore are still expected to experience significant challenges due to the series of restrictive measures and health advisories implemented to ensure the infection rate remain low and stable.
Crowded areas such as shopping mall, wet-markets continue to exercise crowd control measures, non-essential business closed down temporarily while most essential businesses are limiting the offering of their services and products.
During the circuit breaker, many consumers are changed their shopping behaviors from surfing online stores for purchases to reduce the need to leave the house, to changing the way they make payments which see a rise in adopting the use of contactless and e-wallets to avoid unnecessary contact and handling of physical cash
As such, cashless payments are becoming ever more important amid this unprecedented situation, apart from just simply bringing convenience or coupons and rewards. As a merchant, whether you are starting or running an e-commerce business, or planning to resume and continue your brick and mortar operation, cashless payment has fast becoming a norm and a crucial aspect in ensuring continuity during this difficult period.
There are various cashless or Card Not Present (CNP) payment solutions (QR Code, In-App Payment, NFC, 3DS etc.) in the market which can be integrated across different sales platform (Online, Mobile, In-Store). Apart from the obvious popularity, one should really look closely into finding the right one that aligned and compliment to their business needs (image, buying journey etc).
While sourcing for the different payment solutions, you might also end up with a different payment service provider for each solution and each may have a different pricing and settlement arrangement and managing them could be challenging considering the merchants have more pressing concerns with daily operations.
Hence, this article is intended to provide merchants with some information from deciding the right payment solutions and how onboarding with a converged payment service provider like UQPAY would work out for your business.
Getting the Right Product – From Online to Offline, From Traditional to Conventional
So, when it comes to payment services, it is important to deploy the right payment products to your business as there are variety of scenario of getting paid for your products and services
Payment Products supported by UQPAY
- Online Credit/Debit Card Checkout
- Internet Banking
- Card Hosted
- Mobile In-App
- Invoicing
- Recurring / Subscription
- Contactless / NFC
- ApplePay
- Offline QR/SmartPOS
- SGQR
- Digital Payment Token
An airline or hotel operator collecting payment by card and internet banking via online and mobile app booking; a food ordering and delivery company enabled card hosting services to accept payments from regular customers without them entering card details for repeating visit; a fast food restaurant using SmartPOS which allow customer to speed through cashless checkout by scanning contactless card for payment in store; or even a traditional import/export trading firm looking to invoice their client with online payments.
Besides payment by cash and card, Alternative Payment Method (APM) such as payment by QR Code and Digital Payment Token are innovative and convenient choices which helps to reduce payment friction and localize in foreign market. In particularly during the coronavirus outbreak, using of e-wallets avoid physically handling of cash or card completely and minimize human contact.
SGQR
As a SGQR taskforce member, UQPAY provides their merchants with the use of a single multi-tenanted QR at their stores and the they will be able to choose a variety of payment schemes and apps to integrate and start collecting payment from both local and overseas consumers
PayNow
PayNow is a peer to peer fund transfer service which allows the retail customers of the nine participating banks, namely BOC Singapore, Citibank, DBS Bank/POSB, HSBC, ICBC, Maybank, OCBC Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, and UOB, to send and receive funds instantly in Singapore Dollars by using mobile number or NRIC. This fund transfer service has since extended to corporates and businesses in Singapore and instead of providing bank account details during transaction, UQPAY will provide merchants with a PayNow QR registered with its Unique Entity Number (UEN), to ensure a convenient and swift yet secured payment collection process.
Digital Payment Token
UQPAY is also set to become the first Crypto currency (a.k.a. Digital Payment Token) acquirer in Singapore which allow merchant to accept a selection of crypto currencies for payment at their ecommerce site or physical store. The payment product is QR based and built on BIP secure protocol which supported with a dynamic currency conversion mechanism. This ensure consumers is able to scan and pay conveniently with crypto currencies while merchant could continue to enjoy settlement with their preferred currency. What could be more important is this payment product can effectively reduce operating costs, prevent fraudulent transaction and chargeback.
Choosing the Payment Channel
If the right payment product determine how merchant get paid, accepting the right payment channel (e-wallets, card schemes etc) decides who will be paying the merchants. Locally, there are e-wallets acceptances such as GrabPay and PayNow that closely affiliates with the local Singaporeans on the daily basis from transportation to banking, and there are e-wallets which offers cashback, periodic one for one deal and loyalty programs which bundle the convenience and rewards into a single payment method.
There are also overseas popular payment channels such as UnionPay, WeChat and Alipay which not only provide a seamless payment experience for travellers and expatriates when they spend overseas in Singapore but also these e-wallets also extend selected benefits and rewards to the locals. In short, payment is a matter of preference for consumers in these days.
Hence, getting the right solution and payment channel not only increase your chance of getting paid for your services but also possibly widen up your existing customer base. Afterall, having the payment methods with UQPAY at your outlet or website is free of charge. Pay only when you get paid.
So, how can you accept the cashless payment?
Use the Right Payment Tool
Good tools are prerequisite to the successful execution of a job. With UQPAY, there is a payment tool for each solution to facilitate the transaction between the consumers and merchants.
In-Store Merchants
Starting from the ground, if you are operating a retail store, you are most likely equipped with a Point of Sale (POS) interface to process your cashless transactions.
At UQPAY, a software application (App) is developed to assist the merchants to facilitate cashless transactions and this App can be download onto mobile devices (available in Android and iOS) or installed on handheld terminal to extend acceptance to contactless card payments.
Online Merchants
If you are considering to move or start your business online, UQPAY developed and provide its payment gateway for e-commerce merchants to accept and authenticate online transactions, which can be effectively integrated across to both websites and mobile applications.
But unlike operating in a physical shopfront, online transactions faced a higher possibility of fraudulent activities and chargebacks and a payment gateway must be designed to authenticate customer credentials and encrypt payment customer information during the transmission of payment information.
Hence, it’s important to select a trusted provider such as UQPAY which is PCI-DSS certified to handle so. Besides that, a payment gateway is also designed to do a wider variety of functions and such as storing and tokenization of cards details for recurring sales, calling an e-wallet app within your mobile device to complete transaction etc.
Online Resources
To integrate this powerful payment gateway, UQPAY developers provide various resources including API documentation, SDK, Demo and plugins which aim to cater to different level of needs be it you are an experienced developer or an aspiring entrepreneur whom just started your build your online store using e-commerce platforms.
If you have understood the above and ready to start, yet. You probably still need to register a merchant account
Comphrensive Merchant System to Manage Your Merchant Account
The merchant account is an account hosted by your payment service provider to manage the funds from the payment transactions before credited to your business bank account.
Most often, the payment service provider will allow merchants to access this merchant account for information relevant to the funds. Hence, as soon as you sign up, UQPAY will assign a merchant identification (MID) and provide you with a dedicated merchant platform for you to access to a comprehensive set of functionalities to manage your account.
Within the same system, UQPAY also provides currency exchange functions and exchange rate management tools for merchant accounts, assist merchants in managing their payment fund types effectively, reducing currency exchange costs and managing exchange rate fluctuation risks.
UQPAY Merchant System and features
This includes reports and statistics which provide meaningful data for merchants to reconciliate and analyse business performance; an access control function to assign roles and responsibilities to other members within the business team; and most significantly of all, using the platform to initiate payment requests from your clients or conveniently remit available funds in your merchant account to pay your suppliers.
Settlement to Merchants
Speaking about the funds, many would be concern about the issues such as security, duration etc., and with UQPAY, most settlements are reconciled and initiated from the merchant account within 2 working days from the completion of the payment transaction (T+2).
These settlements received from the respective payment channels are directly transferred into a trust account maintained by an established local bank, before crediting to merchants’ business bank account. This is to ensure a clear segregation and safeguarding the monetary interest of the merchants.
Besides, the entire process will be API automated to maintain strong accuracy and efficiency throughout the entire settlement flow.
Begin Your Payment Journey With UQPay and More Reason to Do So Now.
Become UQPAY Merchant
If you are ready to onboard with UQPAY, there are is an option to sign up online and the whole process of submission is paperless and self-automated from business information to documentation.
It is UQPAY responsibility to ensure every merchant onboard, comply strictly with the local legal and financial regulation to protect the interest of the consumers and other fellow merchants. Despite the usual rigorous process, UQPAY employed KYC (Know Your Customer) software solution to ensure the evaluation is maintained diligently while observing faster turnaround time.
Promotional Rates
In light of the current situation, UQPAY would like to extend their sincerest regards to all merchants and strive to stay committed in support of your business operation. Hence, along with UnionPay International (UPI), UQPAY are introducing following initiatives:
1. 0% Processing fee for essential merchants accepting selected QR Code Payment till 31 Dec 2020
For essential merchants operating a physical store based in Singapore, many are currently experiencing difficulties in coping with lesser demands while continue to incur costs in sustaining their business. This initiative is to ensure that the merchants can transact with one less cost in mind while accepting payment with the following QR Code payment methods:
- UnionPay QR
- PayNow
- Digital Payment Token
2. Processing Fee for essential businesses accepting Online Payment Products reduced to 0% till 31 Dec 2020
To support the essential Singapore registered e-commerce retail merchants and marketplaces with managing the increasing volume of online sales during this period where physical business operation and human contact are limited.
The online payment methods involved in this promotion include:
- UnionPay
- PayNow
- Digital Payment Token
This initiative also represents an opportunity for the current brick and mortar businesses to leverage to develop their e-commerce channel and extend the offering of their products and services to the online shoppers.
3. Marketing Initiative – 0% Marketing Fee for business running in-house promotion till 31 Dec 2020
Besides the promotional processing rates, UQPAY work closely with UnionPay International (UPI) to assist selected merchants to market their business and promotion activities via both local and overseas marketing platforms (Dian Ping, Trip.com etc.) to increase their brand visibility and exposure to a wider customer base. From now till 31 Dec, merchants running in house promotion which accepts UnionPay QR code as payment, will be given a chance to advertise at selected marketing platform for free. This include option to convert the promotion as coupons for online download and physical redemption to direct more visitors to your store.
4. Instant Discount of 18% for payment by UnionPay QR Code extended till 30 September 2020
With many businesses battling the coronavirus and continue to serve the community during these uncertain times, UPI and UQPAY had also came together to ensure that both the merchants and consumers will be able to continue to enjoy the benefits when transacting with UnionPay QR Code. Both existing and new merchants will be able to apply and participate in this promotion.
Get Cashless and Ready to Fight On
To conclude, merchants should always stay abreast and adaptive to the ever-changing needs of the consumers. Especially during this period, when Singapore are continuously developing effective responses to fight the Covid-19, cashless payment has become an effective measure in observing social distancing and preventing the potential spread of the coronavirus.
And by choosing a one-stop payment solution provider such as UQPAY, you can start accepting a bundle of your preferred and popular payment methods while integrating with only one single certified and licensed platform. The platform’s end-to-end service architecture converges payment, reconciliation, compliance and marketing modules which enable merchants to significantly reduces development costs, improve financial efficiency, shortens integration timeline and drives marketing growth.
If you still have any queries, speak to the UQPAY business development team at business@uqpay.com or visit the website at www.uqpay.com now to get started.
Stay United and continue to grow as we overcome Covid-19.
Featured image credit: Unsplash
