Payment Methods
THE ESSENTIALS
Payment Methods are the acceptable forms of payment your business offers to contacts to either fund their CRM.COM Wallet or settle a debt,
It is highly recommended to have a payment method in place to fund the CRM.COM Wallet!
Contacts add and manage their preferred payment methods through a front-end.
Payment methods are considered as the CRM.COM Wallet's funding sources when this is used as a payment method itself to pay off a debt, i.e. they are automatically used to collect funds from the contact’s bank account and credit the CRM.COM Wallet enabling fast, secure, and seamless payment processing.
Let’s see some basic terms related to Payment Methods.
Online & Offline Payment Methods
Payment Methods are classified as online or offline based on their type:
Online - Payments processed through a Payment Gateway service integrated with CRM.COM e.g. Cards.
Offline - Payments issued manually or outside CRM.COM, such as Cash and Bank Transfer.
Payment Method Types
The Payment method type determines the actual method used to pay an Invoice and how the payment was captured and processed.
Types are not configurable in CRM.COM. However, a Business can enable accepted payment methods in Financials by selecting the required types.
Primary Payment Methods
The first payment method added by a Contact is automatically set as their primary method and will be used for automated payments. Contacts can change their primary payment method at any time.
By default, the primary payment method is used for recurring subscription billing unless contacts explicitly select a different payment method for automated payments.
Payment Gateways
A Payment Gateway is a third-party service that securely handles capturing payment method details, handles payment transactions, and supports refunds and payouts in multiple currencies.
CRM.COM comes pre-integrated with several Payment Gateway services, and custom integrations can also be developed to meet specific business needs. The CRM.COM Wallet Gateway is the platform's global payment gateway, offering businesses a fast and convenient way to accept payments and utilise the Wallet’s Cash Pocket feature.
Payment Gateways can be configured through system settings For a list of supported options, refer to the Integrations manual.
Contacts & CRM.COM Wallet Payment Methods
When payment methods are added via the CRM.COM Wallet Gateway, they serve as funding sources for the Wallet. This enables the CRM.COM Wallet to act as the payment method, with its Cash Pocket funded through one of the Contact’s linked payment methods.
Suppose a business uses another Payment Gateway service. In that case, the payment methods will be considered as the Contact's payment methods and can only be used to fund the Business Pocket of the CRM.COM Wallet .
Managing Payment Methods
Payment Methods can be added by both your Contacts and Organisations within your Business Network (Merchants/Service Providers). Typically, contacts add and manage their payment methods through a front-end. In the back-end, users can view the payment methods of a Contact/Organisation and which ones are used to fund the CRM.COM Wallet. Back-end users however, can only add Account Debit payment methods, usually for your B2B contacts.
Contact Payment Methods
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
When a Contact has multiple Payment Methods, one can be set as the primary Payment Method. This can be done by the Contact through a front-end or by a back-end user.
Deleting a Payment Method
Payment methods can be deleted (removed) at any point in time:
A Primary payment method can still be removed, even if it's the only one.
If there is more than one Payment Method, and the primary one is deleted, then another payment method should be marked as the primary one.
Changing the Subscription's Payment Method
A dedicated action can be used to set or change the payment method for a Subscription, indicating thus the contact’s preferred method for paying a Subscription. If none is specified, then the primary payment method is used automatically, and that is the CRM.COM Wallet or the contact’s primary when using your own Payment Gateway integration.
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 and select one.
Refer to the Subscriptions manual for further information on Subscriptions.
Your Business’s Payment Methods
Once you sign up your business to the CRM.COM platform, your business it self gets an Account and a CRM.COM Wallet that are used to manage your business’s SaaS and WaaS relation with CRM.COM. Therefore, you can also add your Payments and Payout methods within CRM.COM’s back-end and manage your invoices, payments and payouts.
The Payment Methods your business can only be set by a User with Owner permissions.
Click on the User name in the top right-hand corner of the screen and select My Business > Go to my account.
Select the Business tab, then:
Payment methods for funding - The Payment Method used to fund the Business’s CRM.COM Cash Pocket and to pay for your Business’s recurring Subscription fees.
Payment methods for Payout - Add the bank account or Revolut details of the Business to enable Payouts from the CRM.COM Wallet.
Merchant/Service Provider Payment Methods
Merchants and Service Providers can also have multiple Payment Methods, which they can use when purchasing from your Business and for the Settlement process.
Payment Methods for Merchants/Service Providers can be configured either by the Business on behalf of the Merchant/Service Provider or by the Merchant/Service Provider user.
By the Business user - Sign in as a Business user > Business Network > Merchants/Service Providers > select the Organisation > edit the Payment Methods.
By the Merchant/Service Provider user - Sign in as a Merchant/Service Provider user > click on the logged-in user name in the top right-hand corner of the screen > select My Business > edit the Payment Methods.
Payment Triggers
Payments can be initiated:
By the Contact - When placing orders. During this flow, additional security checks (3DS, OTP) are applied since the contact must verify the payment transaction.
By the system - For recurring subscription billing, B2B settlements, or other financial transactions such as a Wallet Top-up.
Refunds & Payouts
When a Contact gets refunded, the money is returned using the same Payment Method they used for the initial payment.
Likewise, for B2B settlements using organisation accounts (Businesses, Merchants/Service Providers), debit and credit transactions are handled through the Organisation’s set Payment Method.
Payment Method Settings
A Business can set its acceptable Payment Methods, via Settings > Financials > Financials > Payment Methods.
Payment Methods
There are various Payment Methods to choose from, these can be 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 to Account | Permits the transfer of funds from one Account to another.
|
Account Debit | Account debits are commonly used for B2B 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.
|
Card | Contacts 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, CRM.COM keeps only this information. |
Cash | Contacts can settle a payment in person using cash, this is an offline Payment Method. Cash payments are not supported for automated/recurring Payments. |
Cheque | An offline payment method which involves 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 created for all Contacts to use when they register with a Business. The Wallet 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 its funding source. |
(Digital) Wallet | Third-party Wallets (e.g. PayPal) 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 about Payment Methods.
Contacts
Financials
Wallet
CRM.COM Wallet | [inlineExtension]Set Auto Top up Rules
CRM.COM Wallet | [inlineExtension]Set Termed Top up Rules
Integrations
To configure payment gateways
Integrations | Payment Gateways
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