When it comes to planning and hosting an event, there are a lot of variables and moving parts to manage: the venue, virtual platform (if it’s an online event), speakers, exhibitors, securing sponsors, and more.
Yet, if you don’t plan to run your event for free, it’s crucial to have an established event payment system together with a reliable registration and ticketing platform.
Attracting potential attendees, as we know, is already a very challenging task, and we wouldn’t want them to bounce from the registration page just because it’s too complex, or because they suspect your event payment system is unreliable.
The first impression does matter, and in these post-pandemic days, online event payment systems are a must. Attendees want a quick, easy, and reliable way to pay online to register for your event. If your payment system is too complicated, or worse, you still use a manual system, they will easily be turned off.
With that being said, how should you choose between different event planning systems? What are the best practices for establishing a reliable online payment system for your event?
Here are some important things all event planners should know.
Why Do You Need Event Payment Systems?
Why do you need an online event payment system?
The simplest answer is that because it is expected by today’s customers. Your attendees expect the convenience of being able to register and purchase their tickets online, but at the same time, it will also provide versatility and speed to you, the “seller” of the event.
Let’s take a look at the most important benefits of the event payment systems:
You’ll get the money almost instantly: accepting online payments means you’ll get the money quickly and even almost instantly. Planning an event, as we know, can be expensive, and by getting your money faster, you can use the money to pay for these expenses.
Convenience for attendees: by integrating the event registration with the online payment, you are ensuring it’s as easy as possible for the registrant to make their payment.
Security: it’s obviously very important to ensure safety and security with any payment, but in online payments, security is even more important since the transaction doesn’t happen physically. Most reliable event payment systems are secure with end-to-end SSL encryption, and refunds are typically easy with just a few clicks.
Versatility: with an online transaction, registrants can make their payments outside business hours and the event planner can also receive payments 24/7. You are not tied to rigid operating hours.
Automatic tracking: with manual transactions, you’ll have to manually record every payment, and as we know, this method is prone to errors.
With an event payment system in place, a registrant’s payment will be automatically synced to your database so everything is kept on record. This makes it easier to track how much money you’ve received and the balances that are due.
By providing convenience and security, event payment systems can help in attracting more registrants and growing your revenue as an event planner.
Event Payment Systems Pricing Models
While we have discussed the benefits of having an event payment system, most of them are not free, and of course, the higher the price, the better quality, and the more security features you can get.
When it comes to payment systems, the vendor may charge you with several different pricing models:
- Processing fee only. You don’t have to pay anything upfront but they’ll charge a certain percentage per transaction
- A monthly fee with a processing fee per transaction (at a lower rate)
- A flat one-time fee (sometimes with a fairly low rate of processing fee).
So, when weighing between different solutions, it’s important to evaluate the pricing models and the actual costs you might need to spend.
Also, if you are using a payment system that is integrated into your registration platform (or an all-in-one platform like Eventtia), the pricing structure might be more complex with modified rates.
Security Features To Look For
How can we know an event payment system is totally secure? Different solutions may offer different security features, but in general, you should look for the following features:
- Equipped with a Web Application Firewall (WAF) that protect the database from potential intrusions
- Committed to regularly monitoring its database and servers
- PCI compliance
- Runs from a secure server with a physical firewall
- End-to-end encryption, including for idle data
Also, obviously, you should maintain cybersecurity best practices when using these event planning systems.
Mobile-Friendliness
In this age with more and more people exclusively using their mobile devices to browse the internet, including making online payments, it’s important to also make sure the event payment system is mobile-friendly.
You should ask the vendor (and test yourself) whether the event payment system is mobile-friendly or mobile-responsive, and test on as many devices as possible.
Also, you should make the payment process itself as simple as possible. Include only the necessary steps and not more, and make sure fields and texts are big enough so your registrants don’t have to zoom in and out.
Optimize the user experience, for example by having a numeric keyboard show up when it’s time to enter their phone number or credit card details.
Make sure all forms are mobile-optimized so you can accommodate attendees that want to register on their smartphones.
Manage Your Event Payment With Eventtia
With Eventtia’s event payment system, you can easily generate and send personalized invoices for your event. With built-in integrations with PayPal, Stripe, and PayU, you can start receiving online payments in a secure and reliable way immediately.