It goes without saying that the payment process must be as smooth as possible. So, why do shoppers regularly abandon their shopping cart? Roughly seven out of every 10 shoppers won’t complete their transaction — a number many merchants find troubling.

One of the best ways to convert more sales online is to provide real time payments (RTP) — payments made using a dedicated clearing and settling network to facilitate instant transactions. Pivotal to this is the way RTP combines immediate funds availability, settlement finality, instant confirmation, and integrated information flows. Doing this means that merchants remove as many barriers as possible to the checkout process.

While customers want to make fast, frictionless payments, real-time payments can deliver more customer benefits than just the ability to transfer money instantly and make them readily available. RTP allows consumers to streamline their payments and take better control of their finances. For example, because payments are cleared in seconds rather than hours (or days), people can be much more agile in their budgeting and cash flow management.

An RTP infrastructure can also significantly improve the experience of refunds — a common problem area for consumers and merchants alike. Flexibility and refund policies will likely continue to be front of mind and something people are more conscious of in the wake of cancelled vacations and tighter budgets. Commonplace payment methods don’t always have the instant refund capability or an automated way to provide refunds, meaning merchants need to start the process manually. When it comes to refunds on card payments, merchants need to ensure they have a robust refund process in place to meet consumers' need for seamless payment processes.

By removing technical bottlenecks, RTP creates an environment where consumers and merchants can pay friends and customers, settle bills, and transfer money around the clock. This is particularly useful in countries where the banking system can be clunky, (such as those in Latin America), as RTP offers useful additional payment options for consumers.

We have witnessed tremendous technical changes recently but maybe the most significant change is heightened customer expectation. In the age of instant gratification, many consumers now expect almost everything to be available in real time. With the landscape becoming increasingly competitive, there is no time to lose and merchants are in the race to gain consumers’ attention. Partnering with a trusted payments provider is a key strategy that merchants can harness to ensure they are providing enhanced visibility into payments. With Getnet, merchants can make payments in local currency in real time, improving cash flow and boosting efficiency.

Creating a real-time experience should be a top priority for merchants. The retail landscape has suffered a strike on physical and traditional commerce avenues, forcing merchants to offer an instant service. By offering enhanced visibility into payments and by enabling better cash management, merchants will provide a better customer experience — eventually leading to repeat business and customer loyalty.

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