In this 4-minute read:
- Why most B2B firms still prefer payment via check
- Advantages of using credit cards to pay business expenses
- Womply Bills lets you pay nearly anyone using a credit card
- How does Womply Bills work?
Ask the average consumer today the last time they mailed someone a check, and many of them might not even be able to tell you where their checkbook is.
Digital payments are growing exponentially, and as more small businesses get set up to accept credit cards, these payments between customers and the businesses they patronize look to only increase in demand.
Pay business expenses with your credit card and keep cash on hand. With Womply Bills, you can use your credit card to pay any business, even where cards are not accepted. Try it for free!
However, even in our world of increasingly digital payments, according to the Washington Post, 97 percent of companies surveyed said they still cut paper checks to their business vendors and receive checks from their business customers.
What’s more, most businesses still pay at least 50 percent of their bills using paper checks, even though they lose anywhere from $4 to $20 to cut, mail and process each paper check within their network, according to this Wall Street Journal article.
Why do many small businesses still prefer to be paid by check?
Many businesses still ask for payment via check for various reasons, including: the paper trail it creates; the ease of demonstrating proof of payment via a bank statement (banks take an image of each check and make it available in monthly statements in most cases); they may feel they have more control over the payment process; and some are simply old-fashioned and don’t trust online/digital payment methods (even though almost all checks are electronically processed today).
However, one of the primary reasons local service providers, small firms, and “micro-businesses” often don’t accept credit card payments is that they simply can’t afford the additional fees associated with accepting digital funds. Credit card processors and third-party payments facilitators charge between 2% and 5% to the business that accepts these payments, and for some businesses, these fees may eat up a significant portion of their profit—or all of it.
(Note: a good business credit card with competitive cashback rewards can lessen or eliminate the impact of card processing fees.)
So, though online/digital/mobile payments are indeed growing in adoption by consumers and businesses, a very large portion of American businesses still elect to request payment via a paper check through the mail.
You may also like: What’s the cheapest way to accept credit cards?
Womply Bills allows you to pay practically anyone using your credit card
Womply is a local commerce platform dedicated to helping small businesses thrive in a digital world, and has created Womply Bills to help solve this key problem for many businesses.
With Womply Bills, you can use your U.S. based credit card to pay pretty much anyone in the country with an address and a valid phone number or email, and Bills will mail them a check that typically arrives within 7 business days (often sooner).
You can use Bills to pay your groundskeeper, plumber, attorney, suppliers, vendors, insurance, contractors, your accountant, your lease—even your taxes!
And don’t forget that if you have a “rewards” card you will be racking up points, miles, or cash back with each payment you send.
How does Womply Bills work?
Once you sign up with Womply Bills, it’s a simple 3-step process:
- Make a payment: Add your credit card and tell us who, when, and how much to pay
- Womply charges your card: We add a nominal 3% fee on top of your payment, which is fully disclosed in the total before you pay
- Womply sends a check to your selected recipient: We track your payment end-to-end
What are some of the main benefits to using Womply Bills to pay your business expenses?
Let’s go over some of the key benefits to using a credit card to pay your bills.
Protect your cash on hand without high-cost cash advance fees
One of the key struggles small businesses face in day-to-day operations is cash flow issues.
Many businesses regularly use “hard money loans” or cash-advance services with high interest rates or significant fees, in order to cover business expenses when cash flow is tight.
With Womply Bills, you can pay any business expenses with a credit card to preserve your cash on hand for unforeseen emergencies and only pay a nominal 3% fee, which can be offset with cashback rewards from using nearly any popular business credit card (see more below).
Easier to budget and account for business expenses
With Bills, it’s easier to count the money as “spent” when you schedule a charge on your card, rather than wait for the recipient to cash a check (which can be days, weeks, or sometimes even months down the road). With Bills, you schedule a credit card payment any time that’s convenient for you, and your card will be charged 3 days before the send date.
Rack up credit card rewards, points, and cash back
A lot of people wish they could pay their mortgages/leases or other large monthly recurring expenses with credit cards, just so they can earn more credit card rewards. With Bills, you can.
Lots of business credit cards have robust cashback and/or rewards perks, and the more business expenses you can charge, the more cashback or rewards you earn. Since Bills allows you to use your credit card to pay pretty much anyone, you can really see these rewards add up.
Convenient, easy, and time-saving
As anyone who has done business accounting will tell you, it’s extremely convenient to use one method to pay all your business expenses, and you can save time by consolidating these efforts rather than spreading it out over the month and writing/sending checks as they come due.
Flexibility in scheduling due dates
Womply Bills allows you flexibility and convenience in paying by check, because you can schedule your Bills credit card charge as far in advance as you like, and Bills will automatically charge your credit card 3 days before your selected “mail payment” date.
Payment requests are reviewed for validity before sending
And don’t worry… prior to Bills charging your card, your request is reviewed to make sure it’s valid. If your payment request fails, your credit card will not be charged. We’ll provide you with an error message letting you know what happened.
Let Womply Bills save you time and improve cash flow
Once you start paying all your business expenses with your credit card, you’ll wonder why anyone still uses checks at all. You’ll save time, improve cash flow, simplify your accounting, and earn extra credit card perks and rewards. You can even try Womply Bills for free!
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/on-small-business/wp/2016/11/04/97-percent-of-small-businesses-still-use-paper-checks-to-make-and-accept-payments/
https://gocodes.com/why-american-businesses-still-prefer-the-paper-check/
https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-companies-cling-to-writing-paper-checks-1394494772?tesla=y