Using Online Payment Services

In the past, financial transactions used to happen not so differently than how it happens in today’s age. These transactions used to happen according to the tools and requirements of its era, where a buyer and a seller communicate and agree on exchanging goods, services, information, or other items of value.   

Throughout the time, and with the creation of states, and empires the exchange for goods has developed and the concept of exchanging goods for money or a substance of agreed value such as gold or silver started to become widespread.   

This process continued to develop throughout the years especially after the creation of banks and the introduction of different values of coins and banknotes.   

Then, in the last couple of years, the Internet and e-commerce services came, which required innovation in the payment modalities due to the challenges imposed by the digital transformation and by the virtual worldز  

This is why, online and innovative methods have been introduced, either by the banks or by the leading e-commerce companies. The main objectives of these methods are to address customer’s needs for a fast, secure, and easy to use payment modalities where they can pay for the goods or services they are requesting while being connected online.   

Online payment services   

Such services operate without the need to enter long card details or personal information. Instead, they operate using stored payment methods and/or third-party processing to speed up the checkout process.   

There are a bunch of online payment services around the world, with different characteristics, that push the users to select one over the other.  To list some, there are PayPal, Amazon Pay, Apple Pay, Google, and more.  

Bank / Wire transfers: 

With a high penetration of electronic cards in this era, still, some people prefer to use bank transfers or what is called wire transfers to settle their invoices online by transferring funds directly from their bank accounts, without the need to disclose any information related to cards or any online financial service. This type of payment is considered more secure than cards as it does not require disclosure of any financial details to the supplier to make the purchase.   

Prepaid cards:  

Prepaid cards are similar to an electronic card concerning the shape and how it operates, and they are issued by a bank or electronic card company, and they can be filled with a certain amount of money. Those cards are often used by adolescents or online shoppers who don’t yet have a bank account. These cards are popular in the gaming industry as gaming companies tend to fill them with digital currency and sell them.    

These cards are considered secure as the funding limit is associated with the amount deposited, and once the limit is reached the card will be useless unless refilled by an additional fund.   

Gift cards: 

Similar to prepaid cards, they contain limited funds, and they are mainly provided by certain merchants or retailers as a mean of advertisement for their products and are widely used to replace traditional gifts. Gift cards are mostly used in a closed-loop of shops where they belong to the same company or retail group.    

Different then the prepaid card, the gift card cannot be reloaded with a new fund after being depleted.    

Mobile Wallets:  

Similar to a leather wallet, a mobile wallet is an application that can be installed on the mobile phone, and allow you to store in it digital coupons, digital money, digital cards, and digital receipts. This application is mainly provided by your bank or can be filled by using a credit / Debit card.   

Once the application is installed it allows the user to use their mobile phone to pay for their online and offline purchases by using the contactless technologies available in smartphones such as NFC (Near Field Communication), sound waves, and QR codes.   

Digital Currencies: 

Digital money, or digital currency, is any form of money or payment that exists only electronically.  New forms of technology now allow for more secure and seamless use of digital money, where digital money can be transferred and exchanged with technologies like credit cards, smartphones, and online cryptocurrency exchanges.   

Another prominent form of digital money is cryptocurrency. It is a form of digital money that exists through a blockchain network, such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Litecoin as is been accepted in certain transactions.   

Payment methods available in Qatar   

Online Payment methods are different from a country to another, as it might be led by the country regulation, and it depends on the acceptance of the community and its availability.   

In Qatar there is quite an interesting number of online payment services that can be used by the citizens:  

• Payment by prepaid cards (Credit Card).   
• Payment by bank transfers.   
• Payment through transfer companies (Western union, etc.).   
• Payment through special websites (PayPal).   
• Payment through mobile applications such as the Sadad application for payment solutions. Sadad is a well know mobile payment application used to transfer money electronically in Qatar, based on international standards.   

Which online payment methods should you use?   

With the availability of this wide range and modalities of online payments, you might be confused about which one should you use, when, and why?   

All of that depends on the size of your online activities and how much you are familiar with online payment, as using any of these services can be considered safe and secure if well managed, while it can be considered a source of risk and threat if not well handled.   

Hence, taking the appropriate security measures while doing online transactions is highly required. Securing your online accounts by:   

• Using strong password,   
• Using different accounts for each website   
• Using multi-factor authentication,    
• Enabling SMS/email notification alert   
• Activating One Time password on your credit/debit cards.   
• Requesting a dedicated card for online payments from your bank.   
• Using PayPal or any other similar option   
• Ensuring that the website you are buying from is secure.   
• Checking the websites’ terms, agreements, policies, and dispute policy.   
• Checking if you are allowed to track your order while on delivery.   

While and in case you are planning to run an e-commerce portal, other considerations should be taken, such as knowing your targeted audience, the online payment services available and allowed in their countries, also their preferred payment option. 

In conclusion, online payment services change constantly and payment methods vary to make it easier for the Qatari people to perform financial transactions whether online or offline, and you can always, depending on the platform you are buying from, still use traditional payments such as Cash on Delivery, or bank transfer, which is still considered the safest option as it also guarantees you are not paying unless the goods are well received and in good condition.