Insights

The Benefits of Credit Card Processing

B2B credit card payments have risen in popularity over the years due to the continued advancements in payment technology. More and more B2B decision-makers are demanding the same payment options and customer experience as B2C customers.

In addition to the benefits below, introducing JD Edwards connected payment processing substantially expands your customer base to include smaller business’ because you can now accept orders from less-credit worthy customers without the headaches of added complexity to your AR collections operations.

Streamlined Operations

Many B2B organizations may already accept credit cards as a form of payment, but may not have a JD Edwards connected process. The result is a disjointed and misaligned process that creates non-value-added work and an increased risk of errors. Utilizing a JD Edwards-integrated payment solution can streamline your operations by facilitating how payments are accepted, processed and accounted for. A connected solution can make handling your organization's reconciliation processes significantly quicker as well as simplify reporting.

Convenience

Customers always appreciate the option to place orders and make payments with multiple payment types. The more traditional B2B payment types include an on-account credit limit and terms paid with paper checks, or an ACH credit bank to bank transfer.  However, an increasing number of B2B buyers are utilizing corporate credit cards, or P-Cards. Offering this additional payment type helps improve the customer experience, as some organizations standardize and streamline accounts payable and payments operations using P-Cards.

Sales

A traditional, rigid approach to payments that excludes credit card processing often keeps B2B organizations from extending credit to smaller less credit-worthy organizations or individuals. However, many small businesses want to purchase from your organization and are willing to pay with a credit card. Credit card payment options enable such businesses, who otherwise would not be able to qualify for a credit limit to purchase your products or services, to make a purchase with upfront payment via a credit card.

The Power of JD Edwards Integration for Credit Card Payments

It is clear that credit cards will continue to be a popular payment option for B2B customers now and into the future, but credit card processing operations are often disjointed, unorganized, expensive, and complicated.

SmarterCommerce Payments addresses these issues and lets your organization complete sales orders or receive customer invoices payments with credit cards, ACH, or even alternative payment methods (Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal and Venmo), all with connectivity to your JD Edwards ERP. 

The benefits include the following:

• Gateway integration with processor flexibility
• Streamlined PCI compliance
• Automated payment authorization
• Automated funds capturing
• Simplified accounting and reconciliation

B2B Payment Portal and "Pay by Message"

SmarterCommerce Epayments offers customers options for paying invoices electronically through a payment portal they can use anytime, anywhere to pay open invoices. Customers can also utilize the Epayments portal to review order status, download invoice copies, and manage account information.  A wide variety of payment options can be enabled for your customers including credit/debit cards, ACH transfers, PayPal and others. 

In addition to the Epayments portal, the SmarterCommerce "Pay by Message" process sends reminder emails regarding outstanding invoices due within the time windows that you determine (e.g. next 15, 30, or 90 days) so customers can choose which invoices to pay by credit card or ACH.  As part of this payment process, SmarterCommerce automatically closes out the paid AR invoices in the JD Edwards ERP.

Avoid CSRs Handling of Credit Card Information with "Authorize by Message" (Email/SMS) 

To serve customers that may not feel comfortable providing credit card information over the phone, or if your organization wants to limit employee access to credit card information, SmarterCommerce enables Customer Service Representatives (CSRs) to send a message (email or SMS) with an encrypted link allowing the end-customer to complete the credit card entry process for their order.   The email or SMS link directs the customer authorization page where they can view their order information and submit their credit card information. This "Authorize-by-Message" process totally eliminates the need for your organization to ever receive sensitive cardholder data over the phone.

Security

One of the most beneficial aspects of JD Edwards payment processing with SmarterCommerce is the streamlined PCI (payment card industry) security. For B2B organizations accepting credit cards as payments today, maintaining PCI compliance can be an added challenge. Whether it’s the location of stored credit card data, or where the sensitive cardholder data is entered, PCI has guidelines that impact many aspects of how credit cards are processed. Mishandling credit card data can not only jeopardize customer data and risk customer trust if a breach occurs, but merchant card providers can also conduct be subject to burdensome PCI review regarding their handling of credit card data. 

A JD Edwards-connected solution that is built with streamlining PCI security in mind helps B2B organizations accept credit card payments without the added headache of PCI compliance. SmarterCommerce was designed from the ground up to put security at the forefront. No sensitive card-holder data is stored in JD Edwards or SmarterCommerce, helping your network stay outside PCI scope. Further, our SmarterCommerce Cloud deployment simplifies compliance by eliminating the need for your organization to manage additional servers on your network. 

Make Your Payment Processing Work for You

When you are ready to leverage the power of the JD Edwards connection for credit card and other payment processing, reach out to SmarterCommerce. We can get your organization live with SmarterCommerce Payments in as little as 30 days and thereby streamlining and enhancing your customer service and delivering a return on investment (ROI) of well under a year through reductions in administrative work and increased efficiency, not to mention improving overall customer satisfaction.