Best or most cost effective payment method

I am old school and still do not accept credit card or charge card service payment from my clients. In the last few years, I have been getting more pressure from my client to be able to make their payment by credit card or PayPal since more and more of them hate having to find their check book, pick up a pen to write the check, put it into an envelope, and then mail it to me.

Therefore, which is the most cost effective way to accept payments? I have been told Paypal is the most inexpensive way. Is that true? If someone knows a better option, please tell me. I will be all ears.

I don't know about other payments, but I offer PayPal. Most of my out of town clients prefer to send a check.

PayPal allows the use of credit cards without needing to have a PayPal account. The fee is 30 cents transaction fee plus 2.9%.

I am jealous your clients are so accommodating. I have at least 5 complaints in each of the last few years that it was too much trouble to send a check and I should start taking credit card payment.

"My check book????? I have not written a check for years....... (continue to rant for another 2 minutes)"

Therefore, which is the most cost effective way to accept payments? I have been told Paypal is the most inexpensive way. Is that true? If someone knows a better option, please tell me. I will be all ears.

Why can't your clients just pay by ACH debit? It's still a check, just paperless.

Intuit Quickbooks Payments is $1 per transaction, regardless of amount, I've been using it for 6-7 years now with no problems. I get immediate acknowledgement when the payment is made, and the money always ends up in my account within 3-4 business days (unless the check bounces, but that can happen with paper checks too). There is a full online dashboard for managing these transactions, although I don't use it. You do have to generate the client invoice using Quickbooks, however. (If you don't want to use QB for anything else, you can always import your customer name/address list, then generating an invoice would only take at most a minute or two).

And unlike Paypal, which has made it almost impossible to get monthly statements anymore (undocumented web page), Intuit charges the $1 separately, rather than just deducting it from the payment before depositing to your account like Paypal does.

If your clients are trying to get away from paper checks, they will have no problem making these paperless payments. They do not have to create a login just to pay, but they can if they wish to track things from their end.

The only objections I get are from a very tiny percent of my clients who want credit card reward points, so I send them to Paypal. I've learned to just bump their fee up by 3% before I send the invoice. It would be useless to try to explain to them they aren't gaining anything.

I am jealous your clients are so accommodating. I have at least 5 complaints in each of the last few years that it was too much trouble to send a check and I should start taking credit card payment.

"My check book????? I have not written a check for years....... (continue to rant for another 2 minutes)"

I have one who doesn't have a check book. She pays online with her bank.

This tax season I used Zelle to receive payment from an overseas client. It was relatively painless after I verified myself on their platform. If you have Bank of America checking account you can directly link it to that account. I also accept PayPal.

This tax season I used Zelle to receive payment from an overseas client. It was relatively painless after I verified myself on their platform. If you have Bank of America checking account you can directly link it to that account.

I looked at Zelle web site just now. The FAQ indicates use of Zelle is highly dependent on whether your bank and the customer's bank decide to offer, what limits they put on the transfers, and what they charge for it if anything. By contrast, Quickbooks payments requires nothing special from anyone's bank, and the customer does not have to register or create a login.

I wonder how Zelle makes money? Their press releases and FAQ are silent on the topic.

We use Square and have been very pleased. Cost is a flat 2.75%/transaction.
That is to swipe card, a little higher to enter over phone or in person if swipe does not work.

I suck it up and pay the higher fees for Intuit's payment processing. It just works well, is convenient, and nearly all of my clients use it except for the ones where I am authorized to do an ACH Debit or direct deposit to my company. The slightly higher rate compared to others, given I also have complete transparency to all transactions, is not worth my time in fighting new, less expensive payment systems that are likely more of a hassle, anyway. I have clients that chase 0.01% reductions in fees and they spend more time with accounting than they can ever possibly save by always switching merchant services.

I have also found merchant solution providers to be about as shady as used car salesmen, so I avoid the topic when things work and I am OK with the fees.

I've been offering the CC option for years and clients love it. QBO is great at about 2.3%, I get next day funding, and it does all the work as far as recording the payments against the invoice and adding to your bank register. I am sure I have saved that 2.3% by efficiencies alone. I cannot imagine not offering the CC option these days.

I've been offering the CC option for years and clients love it. QBO is great at about 2.3%, I get next day funding, and it does all the work as far as recording the payments against the invoice and adding to your bank register. I am sure I have saved that 2.3% by efficiencies alone. I cannot imagine not offering the CC option these days.

Neither can I. Particularly pisses me off when a business such as a restaurant does not take credit cards. A 50s style diner recently opened up here, I went to try it, and walked out as soon as I found out cash only. I NEVER carry cash except on vacation, and even then it is minimal.

There is no excuse to not take every payment method available. It is now a cost of doing business, and is so much more efficient to only deal with electronic payments.

I used to try and only take credit cards when i had a difficult paying client.

Now, time is of the essence, especially since i find it harder to get staff.

So quickbooks credit card program is worth the price b/c they do the processing and reflect the cash rec'd
in the QBO automatically. Now don't have to deposit a check, open quickbooks, record the receipt of cash and rid the receivable.

I just don't like to take the credit card if the bill is over $750 or so.

It's a time saver that pays for itself.

I also take Venmo which is growing in popularity.

Neither can I. Particularly pisses me off when a business such as a restaurant does not take credit cards. A 50s style diner recently opened up here, I went to try it, and walked out as soon as I found out cash only.

Funny, some are concerned about the opposite problem (businesses that won't accept cash), as it rules out those who for whatever reason don't have smartphones or credit/debit cards. There is still a large percent of the population which is unbanked.

Are there any tax preparers who won't take cash? In my years at H&R Block as well as on my own, I think there was only maybe 2-3 times someone wanted to pay tax prep fee with cash (which was accepted).

A 50s style diner recently opened up here, I went to try it, and walked out as soon as I found out cash only.

Rule of thumb. Most mom and pop diners are cash only in my area and they offer tasty food at reasonable prices. So I stop by the ATM, pull 100 bucks out and then head down to eat lunch or dinner! For folks used to paying for a cup of coffee at McDonalds with debit/credit card, this is a different world

For folks used to paying for a cup of coffee at McDonalds with debit/credit card, this is a different world

Yep, that’s me.

For folks used to paying for a cup of coffee at McDonalds with debit/credit card, this is a different world

Adapt or die. I prefer adapting. Electronic payments are only going to increase in frequency. I also believe electronic payments will eventually HELP those that are deemed unbankable--you know someone is going to create technology to corner that market.

I think I have been paid in cash just once for my services. IIRC, I have one client that still writes me checks--all others have switched to electronic payments since I started encouraging it a number of years ago. My client base does not carry cash--they have it, just do not carry it. My largest client is a POA and I am in process of switching all of their owners over to electronic payments.

I visit the ATM only when I am going out of town for a week or more and know I may need it for a few things. Otherwise, card is king to me because it is simple, and I do not have to deal with a bulky wallet or change. Also safer--if my card is stolen, I cancel it and get a replacement ASAP. If cash is stolen, it is simply gone. My upcoming vacation is costing $10k...I am taking a measly $300 cash.

I also use QuickBooks for payments. I send the invoices via email and the client has the option to pay by CC or bank draft. Bank drafts have no fees.

Funny a few have mentioned using intuit payments. I too have been using it for probably 10 years. I only allow payment via a bank acct, I accept no credit cards at all. I have approx 750 clients and 90% pay via intuit or a check. Rest is cash. No complaints from anyone. What I find interesting, I pay 50 cents regardless of transaction amount, Migbike pays zero, makbo pays $1. Wonder why the difference.

How do you get clients do do it by bank transfer? I offer both and nobody uses bank. If I offered bank only, everyone would send checks.

I think the difference in prices is they changed recently and Intuit offers free ACH if you don’t mind it taking several days, or $0.50 if you want next day. It’s possible the $1.00 fee was an old rate.

Funny a few have mentioned using intuit payments. I too have been using it for probably 10 years. I only allow payment via a bank acct, I accept no credit cards at all. I have approx 750 clients and 90% pay via intuit or a check. Rest is cash. No complaints from anyone. What I find interesting, I pay 50 cents regardless of transaction amount, Migbike pays zero, makbo pays $1. Wonder why the difference.

The issue with most mom and pop diners is that they don't want to pay bank fees for credit/debit charges and most importantly deal with a stopped payment if the customer does not like the food or service. That is why it says "Cash Only". These guys are not planning to expand to new younger clientele. They are happy with their limited customer base who are very loyal, almost like family. So I don't see thing changing there in the near future