What are P2P Payments?
P2P stands for peer-to-peer, also known as person-to-person. P2P payments are a type of transaction that is completed between two or more people, such as splitting a dinner bill or paying your portion of the rent. These transactions are transferred between the individual’s bank accounts, oftentimes carried out using online platforms or apps.
Some of the most common types of P2P payment platforms are Venmo, Cash App, PayPal, or Zelle. These services allow individuals to automatically transfer money from their bank account to the recipient’s account. In a world where instantaneous is the expectation, this type of transaction is highly preferred and used by people. It is easy, quick, and convenient, the ultimate method of payment.
How P2P Impacts Businesses
As people become more accustomed to this type of payment, it becomes the criteria of speed and convenience when it comes to purchasing from a company, both B2C and B2B.
While these modes of payment are extremely beneficial, they are designed and regulated just for interpersonal use. Such services are unable to be used for B2C or B2B transactions since it’s a shortcut for not paying required transactional fees. In fact, if your business is using P2P services to accept payments, it runs a high risk of being flagged thus resulting in a costly fee.
Even though the P2P platforms cannot be used for businesses, the heightened expectation for immediate payment exchange is still relevant. This puts pressure on businesses to offer payment systems that are as efficient as possible.
How Your Business Can Emulate P2P
For B2C businesses, there are more options for making purchases a simple and straightforward process since the transaction process is not as complicated. For example, if a person is purchasing dinner from a restaurant it is often a very simple process. In comparison, when the restaurant is ordering their food supply from a supplier, they must ensure they are ordering the correct amount of inventory, considering any changes in menus, being considerate of seasonal-based ingredients, have enough storage space for shipments, don’t order too much or too little, set up recurring shipments, etc. There are numerous considerations that must be factored into the ordering and payment process between B2B purchases and transactions.
B2C Businesses
To maintain the P2P standards, a few B2C business options include adding a point of sale (POS) system or adding creative methods, such as using texting.
POS provides a straightforward method of accepting and processing payments on-site, wherever that location may be. If your business is at a trade show or attending a festival, having the ability to sell your products using a high-end system is very important. The system must accept the common types of payments to make it easy for your customers while remaining reliable time after time.
Importantly, the POS system needs to align with your other processing systems to maintain effective tracking and reporting processes. A business needs to quickly calculate their profit for a certain event or time period, understand their inventory, analyze selling trends, etc. Not only does the payment option need to be convenient for the customer, but needs to be equally beneficial for the business.
Another example of creating a convenient option is a system Evolve Payments set up for one of our clients, a Text to Donate option. For a local nonprofit organization, it is critical to receive efficient donations to carry out their important missions. A way to promote donating is making the process as easy as possible, and what is easier than texting?
B2B Businesses
In comparison, the nature of B2B transactions makes it more difficult to emulate P2P payment standards. Yet, not nearly impossible.
Since everything is accomplished online, your payment process needs to be too. These online payment methods are often referred to as Pay Now buttons, and that’s exactly what they are. You click the button and you are brought to a secure portal for completing your transaction. If your customer or client is able to quickly make a payment directly from your website or online platform, it makes the process significantly easier. They can complete the transaction on their own time and from wherever they are located. In relation, Pay Now systems can be integrated with your overall accounting and tracking systems so everything is seamlessly connected.
P2P systems have established a new standard of convenience for making payments that are now expected from businesses, not just on an interpersonal level. Yet, the more complex transactions are for B2C businesses, and even more so for B2B businesses, which means there are more factors that go into implementing a payment system, as compared to P2P. The examples explained above provide specific options for B2C and B2B that emulate the efficiency and reliability of P2P while adhering to the considerations of the business world.
To learn more about what payment options are available for your business, contact Evolve Payments.