How do I get paid for purchases on my VGWellness nutritionals business? Most of the time people say, “I’ll send you a check.” Yes, personal checks are always good! However, thanks to online banking, now we have other reliable ways of sending small amounts to each other. They are faster and more convenient, too!
- Person to Person Payment
Most banks nowadays have this online banking feature that allows you to send small amounts to another person using his/her email. You just go to the website of your bank, sign-up on their online banking and you’re ready to go. Once you’re signed up, look for the “Person to Person Payment” feature, some banks call it “P2P”; they would usually require the full name of the person you want to send the money to and his/her email address. Other banks also require the person’s last four digits of their account number but most banks don’t. If the person has a bank account in the same banking company as yours (i.e. both your bank accounts are under the same company, e.g. Bank of America), the steps would be simpler and the transfer would be instant, and does not require a fee (it’s FREE). If your bank and your recipient’s bank are different your bank will usually require a $1 fee and the transfer will take 1-2 business days. The online Person-to-Person Payment service between different banks is a straightforward system among participating member banks like Bank of America, Capital One, Chase, etc., as it is a system set up by them. If your bank is not among these big member banks it will still be available to you but you will be given extra instructions to enlist via clearXchange.com which are very straightforward and easy-to-follow. You only need to go through the enlistment process once and then you’re all set for all your online Person-to-Person payments.
On the side of the person receiving the money, what will happen is that he/she will receive an email from your bank informing him/her of the payment and he/she will be given instructions on how to claim the money. He/she will usually be required to give his/her bank account number and routing number. Because you gave his/her full name to your bank, the system will be able to verify in his/her bank’s records whether the account and routing numbers he/she gave correspond to the name you gave. If they don’t tally the payment will not be made. If it tallies, voile! payment is successful!
I find this system highly reliable, convenient and fast! I find it more favorable than payment by check which can get stuck in the snail mail, or even get lost.
2. Payment via Gmail Google Wallet
Gmail has the Google Wallet feature which allows you to send money to somebody via email. However, the system works only for emails within the same country. If the recipient’s email account is not in the same country as yours the system will tell you the payment cannot be made. Google wallet only requires you to have a Visa or Master debit card. You compose an email to the person you are sending the money to and you click on the “$” icon at the bottom of the compose window. It will then give you instructions so the amount can be debited from your checking account and then “attached” to the email you are sending your payee. The instructions include asking you to key in your debit card number. When you have confirmed the transaction you then send the email with the money attachment. On the recipient’s side, he/she will be given instructions on how to claim the money, also by email, and it includes him/her keying in his/her own debit card number so the money can be deposited to his/her own checking account. Depending on the banks you both are using, the transfer will take 1-2 banking days to be completed.This service is totally FREE, convenient and quite safe. I say “quite” because I am not sure what can happen if you make the mistake of keying in the wrong email address and a different person gets the email. However, most gmail accounts have profile pics now, so, the probability of that happening is very low. Otherwise, I think it is fool-proof. They give you the option to protect your Google Wallet account with a PIN so other people who may have access to your computer can’t use your gmail account and access whatever amount you may have in your Google Wallet. Hence, it is pretty safe.
3. Payment via Facebook Messenger Friend-to-Friend
Facebook has recently launched, but only operational here in the US at the moment, the FREE service of paying small amounts between Friends on Facebook. All you need is a Visa or Master debit card. You can send a message to your friend on Facebook and by clicking on the “$” icon you can follow the instructions (which includes keying in your debit card number) to send money to your friend safely and without charge. The system will debit the amount from your checking account. On his/her side, your friend will follow the instructions on how to claim the money by keying in his/her own debit card number and the money will be deposited to his/her checking account. The payment may take a 1-2 business days to clear depending on the bank that you both use.
Between Google Wallet and the Facebook Messenger Friend-to-Friend payment systems I think the latter would be safer because you can tell exactly to whom you are sending the money, as you can see the name and profile pic. Google now also encourages having profiles and profile pics to go with the email addresses but not all have profile pictures or have set up their profiles yet.
So there, as long as the payment is not across international borders, online banking’s Person-to-Person Payment, Gmail’s Google Wallet and Facebook’s Messenger are reliable ways of receiving / sending payments. For international payments, it would be by banker’s check.
4. Payment by Banker’s Check
If you are purchasing online from another country, the best way to pay incurring the least charges would be by banker’s check. Buy a banker’s check at your local bank and then mail it to the payee. The payee will in turn cash it in his / her own local bank. You will be charged for the service but your payee will not be charged anymore, unlike if you send the money by telegraphic transfer where you both get charged – you for the processing fee of the banker’s check plus the mark-up on the exchange rate, while the payee gets a reduction from the money transferred for the processing fee on his/her side.
5. Cashing your Check without Leaving your Office / Home
If you hate lining up at the ATM or drive-in to deposit your check you can now deposit it online by using scanned images or cellphone shots of your check! You take the shots or scanned images of both sides, upload into your and you’re all set. I do not know if other banks already have this system too, but Capital One 360 online banking has it. It is so convenient and fool-proof! You do not need to leave your house or office to deposit checks ever again! Capital One 360 also does not require any minimum amount nor fees for their checking and savings accounts, unlike other banks that require you to keep your minimum at $100 or even $1,500, or you get charged a fee once your balance dips below that minimum.
Capital One 360 has 38,000 fee-free Allpoint® ATM Automatic Teller Machines and 2,000 Capital One® ATMs all over the country. Capital One 360 is different from Capital One but their customers can use the Capital One ATMs. They also have an overdraft protection system.
Capital One 360 is relatively new and they are encouraging people to open an account with them. Everyone who opens an account with them gets a bonus of $25 if he/she makes use of a referral link from a friend who already has a Capital One 360 account. Your friend gets $20 bonus in return.
If you would like to avail of Capital One 360’s convenient online check depositing system and you would like to open an account with them, please go ahead and use my referral. You make $25 and I make $20. Win-win? Thank you in advance!
Here is my REFERRAL LINK : https://r.capitalone360.com/DZaD6A5dii
Yes, online banking is so convenient. It is a blessing from God for me and I pray you get blessed by using it, too! May it be another source of happiness for all of us. Have a nice day, everyone!
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If you wish to cite this blog, citation is as follows: PureJoyLand. (2015, Oct. 18). Helpful Tips on Transfer of Purchase Payments [Blog Post]. Retrieved from http://purejoyland.com/2015/10/helpful-tips-on-online-banking/