Remote Payments: improving security, compliance and convenience

In this article, Pay2Sender CEO Adam Ball talks to Liam Phelan – General Manager at Grange Builders Providers – about how they have revamped their payments communications using Pay2Sender’s new ‘pay by link’ solution.

Meeting Liam recently, it struck me that Grange Builders Providers are a family-run company through and through. Their values have remained constant over their 25 years in business. They like to keep business simple; have the product in stock, make the customer feel welcome and appreciated, give them a fair price and they will come back.

But don’t let the traditional values fool you: they are no strangers to innovation, and building communications with customers is key. As Liam says: “Smartphones are computers in our customers’ pockets. Business is easier to do now and smartphones make us and our customers more accessible. Customers anywhere, anytime can search a product, find it on our website and place an order.”

Like most businesses, Grange want to improve the customer experience and grow the business. One area they identified as needing improvement was security and fraud.

Payments over the phone are an unacceptable risk

Hardware stores and Builders providers have long relied on cash or cheque on delivery (COD), but there have always been risks associated with this method of payment. One risk is that drivers are delivering valuable goods, and there is the risk of those goods being accepted without payment being completed. The most common alternative has been to take advance payment by credit card over the phone – but taking credit card details in this manner carries another set of risks – non-compliance with GDPR and PCI, data breaches, and fraud.

For Grange, their COD policy had become too great a risk both for their drivers and for the business. They wanted a more secure way to accept payment for deliveries, one that didn’t get in the way of new sales. This is where “pay by link” technology comes in, as it meets these requirements and offers a much more reliable alternative to cash on delivery.

Grange are now using Pay2Sender to send payment requests and receive payments for all of their remote sales. It works seamlessly with their existing card acquirer – AIB Merchant Services – and allows Grange to continue engaging with customers over the phone.

Instead of taking card numbers they now send a simple payment request to the customer using an SMS and email ‘pay by link’ facility. The customer enters their card details on a secure, branded payment form which is linked to their current card acquirer and includes 3D Secure. Grange no longer need to take customer card details. This eliminates their exposure to potential fraud and ensures data compliance.

As an increasing proportion of their transactions are processed via Pay2sender, Grange decided to integrate Pay2Sender into Agility – their EPOS and accounting solution – which means they now benefit from further automation and operational efficiency, giving Liam clear line of sight across all aspects of his business. I asked Liam to comment on the changes he’s seen since implementing Pay2sender:

“Now we’re using Pay2Sender, the customer is not giving us credit card information anymore which increases the security of their information. Prevention of fraud is another important factor. We also have significantly reduced the numbers of COD transactions which is very welcomed.”

His advice is clear: “I would not recommend any business taking credit card payments over the phone. We would highly recommend Pay2Sender to any business that wants to deliver an improved payments experience to their customers.”

About Pay2Sender

Pay2Sender is compatible with many online payment gateways including Authipay (AIB Merchant Services), Realex Payments, and Stripe, with more on the way. It helps companies of all sizes save time, reduce costs and get paid faster.

Pay2Sender are pleased to offer the first month’s licence free to Hardware Association Ireland members signing up to a Pay2Sender package before the end of August 2018, contact Jim Copeland for further details, jim@hardwareassociation.ie, 087 6671261. Please visit www.pay2sender.com.

This Business Support article featured in the July/August 2018 edition of The Hardware Journal.