The bar has been raised for everyone. Cameroon businesses included. Receiving payment online is no longer an option. It is the new normal.
In 2018, e-commerce sales accounted for nearly 15% of all retail sales.
By the year 2040, it is estimated that 95% of all global purchases will be done through e-commerce.
If you haven’t worked out the easiest way to accept money online in Cameroon by now, get started with a trusted payment aggregator.
What is a payment aggregator?
A payment aggregator is a service provider that allows merchants (you) to accept and process mobile and credit card payments without setting up a merchant account through a bank.
In other words, it suffices to create one merchant account with a payment aggregator and receive payment from: MTN Mobile Money, Orange Money, Mastercard, VISA, PayPal, Express Exchange Mobile Money, YUP etc.
This is an easy and cheap way of accepting payments that can help a small business get off the ground quicker.
In fact, there is only basic paperwork and no waiting days to start accepting payments from the different Payment Service Providers (PSPs) listed above.
One of the sole purposes of a payment aggregator is to provide a streamlined payment solution that’s a shortcut from traditional payment methods.
How many payment aggregators are in Cameroon?
There are over 15+ payment aggregators in Cameroon and the number keeps growing. Each company differs in their payment aggregation approach, services delivered, processing and associated transaction fees.
It’s up to the merchant to do their research before committing to any payment aggregator.
Read more: 10 Benefits of Using PayUnit to Collect Payments Online in Cameroon.
Read also: Payment 101. How We Collect And Process Payments on Your Behalf.
Advantages of using a payment aggregator
1. Minimal paperwork
One of the dreaded operations in commerce is finance. It’s full of paperwork and processes that can prevent a company from expanding, especially international.
The value aggregators provide is that they’ve done the paperwork for you. Imagine you had to individually negotiate with credit card and mobile money companies. For small and medium sized companies, this will be too much.
Even for payment aggregators, there is always a lengthy application and underwriting process. Just like any other company, they need to pass credit checks, provide a personal guarantee, and show proof of security compliance.
You can relieve yourself of all these extra work by choosing to work with a trusted payment aggregator.
2. No waiting time
What you want is the ability to start collecting payments today. Without a payment aggregator, this is difficult. In fact, approvals under a payment aggregator is a matter of hours.
3. Accept payments from different PSPs
Once your application is processed, you can instantly start accepting credit card payments and mobile money payments from different PSPs.
4. Simple fee structure
There is so much detail in fees which many small businesses don’t need to collect payment online. That’s why payment aggregators have adopted a simple fee structure, typically without fixed contracts.
For instance, with PayUnit, you pay 2.8% of each transaction through MTN Mobile Money, Orange Money, Express Union Mobile Money, or YUP.
In other words, if you don’t make money, you don’t pay for the service.
Disadvantages of using payment aggregators?
1. Exploding transaction volumes
Depending on your business goals and projected growth, you may need to decide if a payment aggregator is your best option. For example, if you’re processing hundreds of transactions in a month, a payment aggregator is a good option.
But what if you start accepting thousands of transactions per day. Maybe, you just need a merchant account of your own because fees will considerably increase.
2. Account holds
Aggregators can be slightly overly suspicious of security risks. Even the smallest hint of irregular activity on your site or application can lock your account. This extreme caution (although beneficial for everyone) could keep a business from making a sale if the timing is wrong.
3. Delayed Funds
When you receive payments online through a payment aggregator, at some point, you need to catch-out your money.
This is not something that is instant. Depending on the service provider, it can take 1-3 business days from the day of the transaction. Some payment aggregators can take more.
This is a problem for a small business which lacks operating capital.
4. Limits
Many aggregators impose limits on their merchants. Meaning that you may not be able to collect payments once you meet the limit.
Expand your business by collecting payments online in Cameroon
Going by Media Intelligence’s track data on mobile money services in Cameroon, there are about 6.8 million mobile money subscribers.
It’s important to think of how to collect payments online. Luckily, payment aggregators keep growing in the Cameroon market.
Based on our experience building EneoPay, we’re confident about the competitiveness and stability of PayUnit.
Start collecting payments from your customers online today
No Setup fees.
Most competitive rates in the market.
