Help Your Customers Cut Through The Alternative Payments Clutter

Three-quarters of US online buyers have an alternative payment account. Their use of online payments represents 11% of total online payments (including credit and debit card) in 2009, and it will increase to 12% by 2011. Credit cards will remain the main online purchasing method, accounting for more than half of the total value of online payments. However, merchants that wish to save on credit card or signature debit card transaction fees can encourage alternative payment adoption and use on their Web sites. To this end, they should make alternative payments an intrinsic part of their marketing. They should focus their messages on the alternative payment characteristics that users value most highly around these services, like security and convenience.