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As a global payment solution, debit/credit cards are the most common way for customers to pay online. Merchants can reach out to an international market with credit cards, by integrating a payment gateway into their business.

Electronic payment allows customers to make cashless payments for goods and services through card, mobile phones or the internet, it presents several advantages, including cost and time savings and reduced transaction costs.  When it comes to the boating industry, this lets your boaters be on their way far quicker and saves you time as well.

For those in the marine industry, there is now a solution to allow customers to pay invoices online. DMPay, our online portal, allows for quick and secure online payments, which is something more and more consumers in countless industries are now expecting. How can that positively impact the boating industry in particular?

Here are the top reasons why boating customers prefer online payments: 

1. Saves Valuable Time

Most people, including boaters, prefer internet payment transactions over traditional methods such as cash or bank transfers because the former can save valuable time.

They can save their time by not travelling to their bank. Instead, they can complete the transaction wherever they are with their smartphones or laptops and customers are able to track and know in real time when payments are made and approved – saving them time and thus, offering a more pleasant customer experience. 

2. Extra Protection

Online payments get rid of the security risks of handling cash, especially with a new small business for the first time, settling transactions online eliminates this kind of anxiety and the scary scenario because the individual can complete the transaction remotely and securely. 

3. Efficiency

Online transactions can be done at the comfort of their home, workplace or even on the go. Once a transaction is completed, they will receive an email confirmation of the digital payment slip for the transaction they made online which will be paperless and stored in their email.

The paper slip we get from any bank can easily be lost or misplaced. Offering an online payment portal stores it securely in the cloud. 

4. Currency Issues

Many people prefer the online payment method for travel-related services because it usually accepts major credit cards which automatically calculates the current exchange rate on the specific day of the transaction.

A person traveling to a different country has to exchange currency at their local bank before they leave or upon arrival at their destination. When you’re dealing with boaters, this can definitely make your marine or marina more tourist friendly and thus, attract more visitors overall. However there are fees involved. When it’s done virtually, they do not have to worry about the exchange rates which rapidly changes and carry cash in hassle. 

5. Control and Hygiene

Many times, when we opt for conventional shopping, we tend to spend a lot more than planned and end up buying items that are not exactly what we wanted.

Online, you do not have to let that happen. As we alluded to earlier, the COVID-19 pandemic brought contactless payment into the limelight. Even though the pandemic has largely subsided and we’ve settled back into normalcy, this trend has, and will continue to, stick around. Using contactless payment methods, consumers complete their transactions quicker and businesses spend less time on payments in turn.  

Customers may also prefer online debit/credit transactions because many companies reward frequent cardholders’ users with points that they can exchange with exciting gifts, miles or points to cover the other expenses. 

Do you want to offer your customers the ability to pay invoices online? If you want to find out more about DockMaster and its suite of marine software products, including DMPay, our online payment portal, just get in touch with us here.

DockMaster Software is an industry leading management system for marinas, boatyards, and boat dealerships. DockMaster includes Unit Sales, Prospecting and F&I with fully integrated financial management and numerous integrations with CRM applications, dealer websites and text/messaging services. The Service module includes estimating, labor tracking, and complete parts management with ordering/receiving, subcontractor fulfillment and invoicing. DockMaster Mobile allows technicians to clock on/off jobs from any mobile device. Visual Marina™ management includes storage & billing, occupancy tracking, reservations and dry stack management, including integrations to leading consumer applications for boat rentals, online reservations, concierge/launch scheduling and our new Fuel Integration with FuelCloud. DockMaster also includes Point of Sale, Order Entry with eCommerce and a complete accounting system. Learn more at www.DockMaster.com and follow DockMaster on TwitterInstagramFacebook, and LinkedIn. Or email info@dockmaster.com

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