Kenya’s leading financial institution, Co-operative Bank, has launched an online payment solution to cater to small businesses.
The payment solution is aimed at helping consumers who are opting for contactless payments especially in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Co-operative Bank has several contactless solutions that it offers to its customers who run businesses.
They include:
1. E-commerce solution – This enables businesses to receive card payments through their websites or app.
2. POS solution – Merchants don’t need to handle cash, the customers can pay for their goods and services via card at a Co-op Bank POS terminal.
3. M-Pesa Paybill 400200 – Customers can pay directly into the merchants Co-op Bank account via M-Pesa paybill number 400200.
4. M-Pesa paybill 400222 – The account helps with reconciling of payments done via M-Pesa into your Co-op Bank account. The statements include the customer name, student number or house number and their phone number making payment reconciliation easy.
This solution is ideal for school, landlords/landladies, or merchants that receive bulk payments.
The bank said it was cognizant of the rise of online merchants who conduct their payment via social media channels like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Online market places like jiji.co.ke and others.
Some of these merchants might be missing out on customers who prefer to pay via card. They do not have a physical location where the customer can visit and pay via a POS terminal, moreover, some customers prefer the goods to be delivered to them at home and have the option of paying via card.
With this in mind, the bank has enhanced its E-commerce solution, making it possible for business owners to receive payment via card without necessarily investing in a website or an app.
It works as follows;
Once the customer and the merchant agree on the pricing, the merchant sends the payment link to the customer’s email address.
The customer will receive the link via email and open it. Afterwards, it opens up a portal where they will insert their card details and the amount they are to pay.
Once the payment goes through, the merchant will receive a payment confirmation via email and SMS.
The customer will also receive a notification via SMS in the event they have subscribed to an SMS alert with their card provider. The enhanced E-commerce solution is dubbed ‘Pay-By-Link’ Solution.
The merchant does not incur any cost to get the Pay-By-Link solution. It is free to get onboarded.
The solution is secure, because it is 3D secure, with two-factor authentication for all card payments.
In the event a customer makes a wrong payment, the merchant can reverse the payment without calling the bank for a reversal.
The customer cannot reverse a payment, therefore, reduces the risk to merchants, with regard to loss of money to dubious characters.
Payment reconciliation is easy for the merchant since they can track payment and view payment from a single dashboard.
To get the Pay-By-Link solution, please email us on ecommerce@co-opbank.co.ke.
For more information visit https://campaign.co-opbank.co.ke/ecommerce/.
