Payment methods are the acceptable means by which a business can collect money from its contacts, to pay for products or services purchased from the business.
THE BASICS
Before we get started with Payment methods, let’s take a look at some common terms related to Payment Methods which are used throughout the software.
Payment Method Types
A payment method type clearly states the actual payment source, e.g. Account Debit, Card, Cash, Cheque, Electronic Transfer, CRM.COM Wallet. Refer to Settings for further details on configuring payment methods.
Depending on the payment method type, CRM.COM may require additional details to facilitate the payment method capturing, in order to allow the collection of money. For example, a card payment method type requires the card number, expiration settings etc., whereas account debits require bank details or the IBAN number.
Online & Offline Payment Methods
There are two types of Payment Methods - online and offline.
Online payment methods use a payment gateway service supported by CRM.COM to collect funds from a contact, e.g. via card, wallet, direct debit. Online payment methods require some sort of verification from the relevant payment gateway through which the payment was submitted.
On the other hand, offline payment methods indicate that a business will collect the money manually, e.g. payments using cash, cheques or an electronic transfer.
CRM.COM Wallet
The Wallet is one of the most convenient payment methods for contacts as it can be used to pay for a purchase using any accumulated Commerce wallet funds (from awards), or the Open wallet balance.
In addition, automatic top-ups can also be performed during a payment, i.e. if a contact has selected the CRM.COM wallet as their payment method, but there are not enough funds to pay for a purchase, then the Wallet will be automatically topped-up with the required amount, by retrieving the necessary funds from the card funding the wallet.
Refer to the Wallet manual for details on setting Auto top-up rules and Termed top-up rules.
Primary Payment Methods
The very first online payment method added for a contact will automatically become their primary payment method. Primary payment methods are used as the default payment method when purchasing. Since a contact can have multiple payment methods, they can select which one of their defined payment methods is the primary one, and they can also switch between payment methods at their discretion.
Setting a Payment Method for Subscriptions
Subscriptions require a payment method for settling invoices, which are issued on a recurring basis to bill the contact for the services provided.
Initially, the subscription’s payment method is set based on the selected payment method during the ordering flow (can be any of the contact's payment methods). If a payment method is not specified when the subscription is ordered, then the contact’s primary method becomes the subscription’s payment method, if the contact doesn’t have a payment method, then subscription is funded by the CRM.COM Wallet.
The subscription payment method can be changed to another payment method by the contact, at any given time.
Payment Gateways
A payment gateway is a service provided by a third-party system, which tokenises the payment methods information, and subsequently authorises online payment processing, as well as accepting refunds and payouts in various currencies.
CRM.COM implements integrations to various payment gateways services such as Stripe, Revolut and PayPal etc. Each business can configure multiple payment gateways to handle the necessary payment methods.
Payment Gateways can be configured via system settings, refer to the Integrations manual for a list of supported payment gateways.
Managing Payment Methods
Both contacts and organisations can have payment methods. Contacts use their selected payment methods to pay for orders or recurring subscription billing, and for organisations they’re used for B2B settlements (if applicable).
Contact Payment Methods
For security purposes, contacts manage their own payment methods through front-end systems (app/portal). Only account debit payment methods can be setup by a back-end system user for a contact.
Navigate to the contact (CRM > My Contacts > select a contact), any existing payment methods are visible on the Payment Methods card. Select Add to add an Account Debit payment method, select the payment gateway and complete the necessary information.
Setting the Primary Payment Method
If the contact has more than one payment method, then one of those will be defined as the primary payment method. This can be done either through a front-end device (e.g. a mobile app or a portal), by the contact themselves, or by a system user via the back-end,
Changing the Subscription's Payment Method
The payment method for a subscription can be changed using a dedicated action either by through the back-end system or using a front-end device.
To change a subscription payment method via the back-end system, navigate to the contact screen and select the Subscriptions tab to see all the contact’s subscriptions, select the options button (…) for the relevant subscription, then select the Change payment method option, select one of the contact’s payment methods which will now fund the subscription.
Refer to the Subscriptions manual for further information on subscriptions.
Business Payment Method
In the same way that a contact can state their preferred payment methods (in accordance to those accepted by the business), so too can an organisation (Business, Merchant or a Service Provider), therefore, denoting the payment method that will be used for B2B settlements, as a result of a possible reconciliation process between organisations.
In the case of Merchants/Service Providers, they can also use their stated payment methods to purchase products/services from the Business (in effect the Merchant/Service Provider is one of the Business' contacts).
To configure the payment methods for a business, the system user must be signed-in at the business level (or masqueraded down to the business), click on your logged-in user name in the top right-hand-corner of the screen and select My Business.
A Business can only have a Payment Method of type Account indicating the Business’s account that will be used during the settlement process. A Business cannot have any other type of online or offline Payment Method for purchases or refunds.
Merchant/Service Provider Payment Methods
Merchants/Service Providers can have multiple payment methods, just like Contacts do. These Payment Methods can be used as the method of payment when a merchant is purchasing items from the Business.
Payment methods for merchants and service providers can be configured either by the business on behalf of the merchant/service provider, or by masquerading as the merchant/service provider.
Configure from the business level - sign-in at the business level > navigate to the merchants/service providers > select the organisation > edit the payment methods
Configure from the merchant/service provider level - sign-in at the business level > masquerade to the merchant/service provider level > click on your logged-in user name in the top right-hand-corner of the screen and select My Business > edit the payment methods.
Payment Triggers
Payments can be initiated either from:
A consumer app/portal to pay for online orders (customer initiated transaction). During this flow additional security checks (3DS, OTP) are applied, since the contact must verify the payment transaction
A server-based request (organisation initiated transaction) for billing, or other financial actions such as a top-up. Server side payments can be used for:
Subscription recurring billing
Refunds & Payouts
When a refund is issued to a contact, the funds will be credited to the payment method which was used for the initial payment.
Likewise, in cases of B2B settlements for organisation accounts (businesses, merchants/service providers), charges and rebates are debited or credited accordingly, using the organisation’s defined payment method.
Payment Method Settings
To view or create the permitted payment methods for a business, navigate to the Financial Settings screen - click on your logged-in user name in the top right-hand-corner of the screen select Settings > Financials > Payments.
Allowed Payment Methods
The business can select from seven different payment methods which can used by both contacts and organisations (merchants/service providers).
Refer to the table below for details of the available payment methods.
In the descriptions below the term contact implies both a contact or an organisation.
Type | Description |
|---|---|
Account Debit | Account debits are commonly used for business-to-business transactions, whereby the business directly debits the contact’s bank account. The contact must provide their account information and agree on a mandate to debit their account.
SEPA Direct Debit is a delayed notification payment method, so funds are not immediately available. When the payment has been submitted successfully, the payment intent state is updated from ‘Requires confirmation’ to ‘Processing’. If the payment is successful, then the state is updated to 'Succeeded'. |
Card | Contact can use their bank cards (credit, debit, prepaid) to pay for a purchase either online, or in person. Capturing card details, registering and verifying the cards is solely managed by the payment gateways which CRM.COM integrates with. Once the card is successfully registered, the payment gateway sends back encrypted information that will be used for future payments, for security purposes, this is the only information kept by CRM.COM. |
Cash | Contacts can settle a payment in cash, this is an offline payment method which is carried out in person and on demand. Cash payments are not supported for automated/recurring payments. |
Cheque | An offline payment method ordering the bank to transfer money to the bank account of another party. |
Electronic Transfer | Can be used to post offline payments such as Bank Transfers and POS payments, but can’t be used as a contact’s payment method. |
CRM.COM Wallet | The CRM.COM Wallet is automatically available for all contacts to use as a payment method. Therefore, it doesn’t have to be specifically added as one of the contact’s online payment methods. The wallet itself is funded by an online payment method such as a card. If the setting to allow automatic top-ups for the CRM.COM wallet is enabled, and there are insufficient funds to perform a payment using the Wallet, then the Wallet will attempt to retrieve the necessary amount from it’s funding source. |
(Digital) Wallet | Third-party Wallets are linked to a contact’s card or bank account, providing a fast and secure way for contacts to pay with a card-on-file, or use their available balance. |
Reference Material
You may also find it useful to refer to the following manuals for further reading in relation to Payment Methods.
Contacts
Financials
Wallet
Integrations
To configure payment gateways
TABLE OF CONTENTS