Why End-user Support in Payments is Essential

Being customer-centric in a post-COVID world

More and more consumers are embracing digital in a post-COVID world. And the appetite is growing. Consumers today expect a lot from brands when it comes to engagement. This includes everything from connected shopping journeys to greater personalization to safer payments.

According to research from Salesforce, nearly 90% of consumers expect brands to ramp up their digital efforts. Nearly 70% of consumers feel brands should offer newer ways to access their services or products. Over 60% of consumers want brands to be more in tune with their expectations.

As more brands compete for the attention of consumers, the experience they offer to their customers is a key differentiator. Over 90% of consumers are more likely to buy from a brand again if they had a positive experience. Consumers want to trust brands, and they want to be engaged. And as the data indicates, brands that step up their customer engagement and end-user support will pave new ground for growth.

But when it comes to what consumers expect and what they get, there are still many gaps to be addressed. This “experience gap” has serious consequences for a brand, from negative reviews to decreased customer loyalty or even customers dropping the brand altogether. Thus, brands have to use a mix of empathy and emotion to be able to better connect with their customers.

If your company accepts digital payments, building a solid customer experience is critical to keep your business growing. There are many points for a brand to keep in mind while designing its payments strategy. This includes many aspects, ranging from troubleshooting to creating easy-to-read dashboards to providing top-notch end-user support.

How does end-user support help your payments?

End-user support helps you to meet your customers’ needs on time. You can listen to them, know them, and engage with them better using end-user support. End-user support is the first line of help when customers face issues. It uses a mix of automation and in-person support to solve these issues and ensure that the customer experience is not hampered.

Some areas where end-user support can help are:

1. Payment Experience

End-user support can enrich the payment experience for customers. They can respond to any queries or issues that customers might have around their payments. They can also help a customer track their payments and provide clarity in case of payment delays or declines. This ensures your customers shop on your website and app with confidence and helps build stickiness with your brand in the long term.

2. Fraud and chargebacks

These two can be really expensive for a merchant. With the rise of e-commerce, fraud has gone up, and so have chargebacks. Both of these are costly and can damage your reputation. Too many chargebacks can even lead to your merchant account getting closed.

Using end-user support from a certified PCI DSS payments partner can help you detect and respond to fraud on time. Support teams use a mix of automation and in-person support to monitor fraud in real-time. They track customers’ shopping behavior, detect suspicious activity, and take action in case of fraud. This way, they ensure that your customers are safe and in the know. This, in turn, can reduce the number of chargebacks.

3. Self-service

You can set up an end-user portal that gives your customers the option of self-service. They can use this feature to view their transactions and when and where they have made purchases. This helps them to easily track their payments, thus reducing the risk of chargebacks.

Customers also get an easy view into their recurring payments, for instance, subscriptions. They can use the self-service portal to make changes to their plans and track or cancel their plans. This way, they have more control over their spending while you save on time and effort.

How can a payments partner help you in end-user support?

The right payments partner can help you set up a robust end-user support practice. They can provide you with the right set of tools, from automation and machine learning tools to qualified end-user support staff. They can not only manage your risks but can also make a big difference to your overall payment experience. They can also set up a customer self-service portal that gives more info and clarity to customers on their payments.

For example, Novalnet’s end-customer portal allows your customers to view all transactions with the transaction identification number (TID). The TID appears in their debit from the account or on the credit card statement. Customers can figure out where the purchase was made by viewing the booking details themselves on the portal. If your business offers subscriptions, your customers have the option to cancel their plans in the end customer portal. This saves you a lot of time and effort.

Additionally, we also offer telephone support to your end customers. You do not have to provide any customer support yourself for online payments made via Novalnet.

Jose Augustine

Jose Augustine is the Chief Business Development Officer at Novalnet with extensive experience in European payment industry and a knowledge powerhouse.