Payment method

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In payment transactions , payment methods are all forms and processes of transferring ownership rights to means of payment .

General

The means of payment change when they are transferred from the debtor to the payee . Alternatively, payment methods or systems are also used. A uniform use of these terms has not yet been established. The spectrum of payment methods ranges from simple cash payments at the checkout to electronic solutions (e.g. mobile payment ).

Classification of payment methods

Payment method can according to different criteria classifies be. A distinction is often made between classic and electronic payment methods, for example. Classic payment methods are therefore cash on delivery , (paper) checks and bank transfers , which can be made either before delivery ( prepayment ) or after delivery (payment by invoice ). The electronic payment methods include those methods in which the payment can be released directly via electronic media (e.g. credit card and direct debit payments ).

However, it is unclear how the transfer via online banking is to be classified in this classification. In contrast to paper transfers, the payment is approved via electronic media, but the approval cannot take place immediately. Instead, the debtor must first log into his bank's online banking system and then enter the transfer details manually. With the giropay payment method based on online banking, some of these intermediate steps are omitted, which is why it can clearly be counted among the electronic payment methods.

Another subdivision differentiates according to the time of payment: “Pay before” means payment before the delivery time, “pay now” means payment at the delivery time and “pay later” means payment after the delivery time. However, even after this systematisation, a clear assignment is not possible for every payment method. If a payment initiated via a mobile phone is billed via the billed telephone units, this can be done on the one hand via the monthly telephone bill, which would speak in favor of classification as “pay later”. On the other hand, however, it could also be a prepaid card, in which case the method would be assigned to the “pay before” category.

The Federal Office for Information Security has therefore dispensed with the above-mentioned classifications and differentiates between original and derived payment methods:

  • Primary payment methods include the physical transfer of monetary units ( cash or electronic money ), wire transfer, and direct debit .
  • Derived payment methods, e.g. B. the credit card, the check or the large number of payment methods developed for electronic commerce , ultimately fall back on one of the original payment methods when processing payments. The derived payment methods are further divided into the following groups:

reliability

The reliability of payment systems in an economy depends on liquidity , finality, transaction risk and systemic risk .

Selection of payment methods

The importance of offering cashless payment methods has increased significantly in recent years. On the one hand, the EuroHandelsinstitut has recorded a sharp increase in cashless payments in stationary retail . On the other hand, more and more retailers are using the Internet as a sales channel and are dependent on suitable methods for cashless payment for goods and services .

In electronic commerce in particular , a suitable range of payment methods ( electronic money ) is increasingly becoming a success factor. Often purchases are abandoned if the appropriate payment method is not available. Against this background, the selection of payment methods is gaining in importance. The selection of payment methods must be based on suitability for the present payment scenario, the requirements of the debtor and the requirements of the payee.

Payment scenarios

Payment scenarios are differentiated according to the usage scenario, the amount, the origin of the customers and the frequency of payment.

Categorization according to the application scenario

Categorization according to the amount

Categorization according to the origin of the customers

For foreign customers, make sure that the payment methods offered are also available abroad. This has been introduced, for example, for direct debits in the European Payments Area (SEPA).

Categorization according to the frequency of payment

  • Unique: customer and dealer only meet once.
  • Recurring: Customer and dealer meet repeatedly.

For services that are used repeatedly, customers are likely to accept a higher one-time registration effort than for services that are rarely used. The risk for the retailer also decreases if there is already positive experience with a customer's payment behavior. The direct debit procedure is particularly suitable for collecting regularly recurring claims.

Payer Requirements

From the perspective of the debtor, the most secure possible payment processing is desired. Additional requirements include low installation and registration effort, low costs and a high number of acceptance points.

  • Security : Under the security aspect, organizational and legal regulations are considered that are suitable for preventing damage from the payer's point of view. The security requirements can be further subdivided into transaction control, authentication, blocking options and low liability amount:
    • Transaction control: On the one hand, the debtor wants to be sure that a transaction he has requested has been successfully initiated. On the other hand, he wants to be able to check that no unauthorized transaction has been carried out.
    • Authentication : The strength of the authentication indicates how easy it can be for a third party to initiate unauthorized payments at the expense of the debtor.
    • Blocking option: In the event of a block against future dispositions, damage is excluded even if a third party has overcome the authentication mechanism.
    • Liability amount: The liability amount indicates the maximum amount for which the customer has to pay if unauthorized disposals were made at his expense prior to a possible block.
  • Installation and registration effort: The installation and registration effort describes the effort required to use the payment method for the first time. On the one hand, this includes registering with the provider of the payment method. On the other hand, this includes the effort for any necessary hardware and software installations.
  • Costs : The use of a payment method is usually free of charge for the debtor. In e-commerce, however, some retailers are starting to charge different prices depending on the payment method used. In addition, the transaction-independent costs for the customer also play a decisive role. This includes the costs that the customer incurs without making payments. These include both one-time acquisition costs, e.g. B. for a card reader, as well as periodically recurring costs such. B. the annual fee for a credit card .
  • Acceptance points : Another factor that plays an important role in the use of payment methods is the number of acceptance points. If the number of acceptance points is high, customers are more willing to accept the registration effort.

Payee requirements

As surveys show, the immediate and immediate usability of a payment method (distribution / acceptance by the customer) plays a very important role for retailers. Other important requirements are effective protection against payment defaults, low costs and support for end-to-end processes.

  • Dissemination / acceptance by the customer: When choosing a payment method, it is crucial that not every customer can actually use every payment method spontaneously and immediately. In particular, newer payment methods, such as. B. PayPal , ClickandBuy , Moneybookers or T-Pay , require registration, which creates a hurdle for the first use of the payment method. Classic payment methods such as transfer , direct debit or credit card procedures have the historically determined advantage of an already existing, relatively high distribution. Particular attention should be paid to the distribution among the addressed target group , e.g. B. with younger customers or with customers from abroad.
  • Protection against payment defaults: Depending on which payment method is being considered, it offers more or less protection against payment defaults. The bandwidth ranges from very little or no protection at all, e.g. B. for payments by direct debit or invoice in distance selling , up to a complete protection, z. B. with the GeldKarte system of the German banking industry or payment in advance .
  • Costs : The costs that arise from the integration and use of payment methods on the merchant's side can basically be divided into the following types:
    • Costs that arise from the procurement of software or hardware components, e.g. B. Terminals or software so that credit card payments can or may be accepted and billed in the first place.
    • Costs that arise from the regular submission of fees that are independent of a purchase transaction, e.g. B. monthly license costs or basic fees for the basic provision of services by the payment method provider
    • Costs incurred in processing a payment. In the case of credit card payments, for example, authorization costs that are independent of sales are often incurred plus a fee that is dependent on sales as a service fee.
  • Processes: In order to avoid costs in the form of manual assignments of incoming payments to open items , attention should be paid to the extent to which the payment process enables the integrated service providers to automate. In the case of prepayment or invoice payments, for example, the manual assignment of incoming payments to open items often causes a lot of effort.

Specific problems of payment methods

The outlined requirements of the debtor and the payee result in two fundamental problems in the design of payment procedures. On the one hand, the requirement for a high number of acceptance points or for high distribution on the customer side leads to a chicken and egg problem. On the other hand, the mutual demand for security, especially in distance selling, results in a problem, since step -by- step fulfillment is not possible in distance sales.

The chicken and egg problem

The chicken and egg problem (also known as the network effect or penguin effect ) is the reason why new payment methods are very difficult to establish. Customers will only have to bear the initial costs (e.g. registration) for a new payment method if it is accepted by many merchants. In turn, retailers only integrate a new payment method if it is used by a sufficient number of customers. This leads to a situation of mutual waiting and consequently no spread of the payment method as long as a critical mass of users is not reached.

The problem of risk allocation in distance selling

In distance selling, due to the transport time of the goods, step-by-step fulfillment is not possible as in stationary retail. Therefore, either the buyer ( prepayment ) or the seller must make advance payments. This inevitably results in a risk: Either the buyer runs the risk that goods that have been paid for in advance will not be delivered and the amount already paid will no longer be reimbursed, or the retailer takes a payment risk . This consists, for example, in the fact that, despite proper delivery, an invoice is not paid or a payment by direct debit or credit card is returned. Therefore, these payment methods are often combined with additional measures to protect against payment risks, e.g. B. Address checks , negative list checks or credit scoring .

Payment in advance is number one in terms of popularity in e-commerce ; In terms of sales, prepayment takes third place.

Payment instruments

Payment instruments are technical instruments of payments that a debtor are available to transfer cash. Depending on the used means of payment, there are cash payments ( cash as hawala ) halbbare payments ( cashiers check or cash deposit to an account) or cash payment ( bank transfers , real-time bank transfers , direct debits , card payments ).

See also

literature

  • Cornelia Stengel, Thomas Weber: Digital and mobile payment systems - technology, contracts and regulation of credit cards, wallets and e-money. Schulthess Verlag, Zurich, Basel, Geneva 2016, ISBN 978-3-7255-7558-9 .
  • Thomas Lammer (Ed.): Manual E-Money, E-Payment & M-Payment . Physica-Verlag, Heidelberg 2006, ISBN 3-7908-1651-5 .
  • René Teichmann, Martin Nonnenmacher, Joachim Henkel (Eds.): E-Commerce and E-Payment. Framework conditions, infrastructure, perspectives . Gabler, Wiesbaden 2001, ISBN 3-7908-1651-5 .
  • Karl-Heinz Ketterer, Karsten Stroborn: Manual ePayment. Payment transactions on the Internet. Systems, trends, perspectives. German Economic Service, Cologne 2002, ISBN 3-87156-463-X .
  • Ernst Stahl, Thomas Krabichler, Markus Breitschaft, Georg Wittmann: Payment processing on the Internet. Importance, status quo and future challenges. IBI Research, Regensburg 2006, ISBN 3-937195-12-2 , details on the study and management summary as PDF .

Web links

Commons : Payment method  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Kimmo Soramäki / Benjamin Hanssens: E-payments: what are they and what makes them different? ( Memento of July 11, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) , p. 5
  2. ↑ Federal Office for Information Security: Module "Secure Payment Methods for E-Government" of the E-Government Manual ( Memento of January 17, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) , p. 6 (PDF; 1.2 MB)
  3. ↑ Jane Kaufman Winn, Clash of the Titans: Regulating the Competition between Established and Emerging Electronic Payment Systems , in: Berkeley Technology Law Journal vol. 14/675, March 1999, p. 678 ff.
  4. ↑ Markus B. Hofer / Hans-Helmut Kotz / Diethard B. Simmert (eds.), Monetary and Economic Policy in Social Responsibility , 2004, p. 163
  5. ↑ Markus B. Hofer / Hans-Helmut Kotz / Diethard B. Simmert (eds.), Monetary and Economic Policy in Social Responsibility , 2004, p. 164
  6. ↑ Jane Kaufman Winn, Clash of the Titans: Regulating the Competition between Established and Emerging Electronic Payment Systems , in: Berkeley Technology Law Journal vol. 14/675, March 1999, p. 679
  7. ↑ Innovative payment methods in retail , Hamburg Chamber of Commerce. 
  8. ↑ Main Association of German Retailers: Page no longer available , search in web archives: EHI annual survey on payment systems@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.einzelhandel.de
  9. ↑ Ernst Stahl / Markus Breitschaft / Thomas Krabichler / Georg Wittmann: Where is eCommerce going? - Results of a dealer survey as part of the eCommerce guide project , p. 24
  10. ↑ Payment procedure from the retailer's point of view (PDF; 1.2 MB)
  11. ↑ Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden (Ed.), 250 Keywords Banking Industry , 2016, p. 191 f.