Wednesday, April 6, 2022

Pay by Text

Thank you for your interest in the Bill & Pay solution - Pay by Text

Over 60% of customers prefer using their mobile devices to make payments. Customers will love the option and convenience to be notified and pay their invoices by text.

Pay by Text will improve your cashflow and workflow, increase customer satisfaction and on-time payments, and reduce payment support calls simultaneously. Pay by Text links and payment options have a 45% higher response rate than direct mail. In addition, customers are more likely to open the text message verses email with 94% viewed within 3 minutes.

Pay by Text is an opt-in customer solution to easily pay invoices via text messaging. Customers will quickly pay invoices in as little as 2 messages using a simple number response with Y / N answers to confirm and process their payment.



Notifications sent by Text from Bill & Pay
  • New Invoice notifications
  • Payment confirmations
  • AutoPay nods
  • Invoice and past-due reminders

Getting started
Turn on the Pay by Text feature
Within Bill & Pay
  1. Click Advanced Options
  2. Texting and click to activate
To Know: When you activate Pay by Text, you are assigned a phone number which the texts are sent from. Your customers will likely save this phone number and name it so they will know who it’s from, what the payment is for, and that it is not a scam for future texts. If you Turn OFF Pay by Text and later turn it on again, you will be assigned a different phone number which may cause issues on the customer side. Communication to your customers is critical. 

Using Pay by Text
Whether the customer is existing or new, ONLY the customer can add a phone number and agree to receive text for Pay by Text. If you try to send a text prior to this, nothing will be sent.

Existing customers who have a Bill & Pay payment portal login
  1. They will see the option to add a phone number and agree to receive payment by text messages.
  2. Once their phone number is added, you can opt to send them text by choosing so under Customer Options. You can choose email and/or text message per notice or reminder.
  3. The customer MUST have an existing credit card and/or ACH account saved to the payment portal. If they do not, they are required to save one while making a payment on the payer portal. After which, that saved payment method will be available for Pay by Text with future payments.

Customers without a payment portal login 
  1. You can send them either an invite for the portal or email them the invoice to pay online.
  2. The customer is required to create an account and complete the opt-in option to add a phone number for Pay by Text.
  3. Customers are required to save a payment method while making a payment on the payer portal. After which, that saved payment method will be available for Pay by Text with future payments. If the first saved payment method was a credit card, and they want to add an ACH account: They need to process a payment while saving that ACH account on the payment portal for it to be available for Pay by Text.

Pricing
Pay by Text fees will appear on the normal monthly billing statement from Bill & Pay.
First month is FREE! This allows you to try it out prior to paying for it.
$10.00/month includes 500 messages. 
Messages over 500 are $0.015/message.

FAQ

Can a customer use this feature if they do not have an internet connection?
To make or receive calls or messages, an Internet connection is required. You can use Wi-Fi and/or cellular data. You can also use a wireless hot-spot or a data stick.

Will I see these payments in Bill & Pay like other payments?
Yes. They will show on the Payments screen in Bill & Pay and if connected to QuickBooks, post normally.

How will I know what invoice is pending to be paid by text?
Several screens like Customers, Invoice List, Unpaid Invoices, etc. will have an extra column on the right side called Text Codes. The code they need to enter to pay the invoice will be in that column.

Will I be able to tell what payments were made by Pay by Text?
Yes. When you click on the payment, you will see SMS Payment and the phone number that made the payment.

Will I be able to edit the verbiage on the texts sent by Pay by Text?
No. The text messages will contain your company name as it appears in Bill & Pay and a link if they want to pay the invoice on the Bill & Pay Payer Portal instead. You can, however, customize the Bill & Pay Payer Portal.