Choosing a Payment Method for an On-Demand/Delivery Startup

The most profitable startups today are on-demand/delivery. This includes such services as childcare service delivery (Kango), package delivery (Roadie), food (Seamless), and taxi (Uber). If you’ve used any of the above services, you will have used a payment method via your mobile app. If you’re contemplating starting such a business of your own, one of the main questions to answer is what mobile app payment processor to use. After all, when it comes to an on-demand/delivery service app, the payment feature is the most important.

A payment system is any system employed to settle a financial transaction through transferring monetary value and includes the technologies, standards, procedures, rules, people, instruments, and institutions required in an exchange. More simply, a payment system is a way to transfer money between endpoints, with these endpoints being the seller i.e. the seller’s bank and the buyer ie. the buyer’s bank.

There are various types of payment methods that can be used in a delivery service business. We’re going to break down the main three.

Credit cards

Payment statistics show that online shop credit card payments are the most popular method of making online payments. Credit cards aren't always favourable to the merchant, however, as they come with expensive transaction fees. An alternative is a debit card payment, which provides a similar level of security but with typically far cheaper charges. Besides alternative payment methods such as external payment cards, other leaders in the payment market that are becoming successful and overtaking payment cards include bitcoin. Let's delve into that next.

E-wallets

Wallets such as Alipay and PayPal are making their presence known in the payment ecosystem. PayPal is among the world’s most popular payment systems. However, it’s also wrought with issues when it comes to app integration. Bitcoin payment processors are certainly a more cost-effective alternative than credit cards for accepting online payments, and it also provides improved fraud protection. So, let's take a look at bitcoin in more depth.

Bitcoin

Bitcoin has been the subject of much debate over the past year and a half. Last year was when it really made an impact and investors had no choice but to take it seriously. One of the latest developments in the cryptocurrency are faucets. Free bitcoin faucets pay individuals bitcoin for fulfilling certain tasks, such as completing a survey or watching a video. The bitcoin that the user earns is called a Satoshi, with each faucet offering a different amount of Satoshis and different ways to earn it. It's an old model but with a relatively new method of payment. There's clearly no end to the potential in how bitcoin can be used in the future. Consumers are also starting to feel more comfortable with the detail coin when making online purchases. So, it only makes sense for startups to consider it as at least one of their payment options.

When you're developing your app and deciding which features to add and which to leave out, ensure that you dedicate the amount of attention to deciding on which payment processor to use.