Five ways to collect payments when using online registration.

Using online registration has many advantages for event planners and event participants. This is especially true when an online registration system can help deal with collecting event fees. There are several different payment options to consider when setting up your online registration system and each has advantages and disadvantages for different types of events. Below is a list of five different payment processing options.

Five ways to collect payments using online registration:

Cash

Cash is not the most common option for dealing with event fees when using online registration, but it does have its place. If there is a small fee to attend an event that can easily be collected at the door, allowing people to pay by cash can be a good option. When people register, the total owing will be calculated based on what selections they make and recorded in the database. Participants will usually be reminded how much they owe in a confirmation email. Event planners are able to print a payments report to take to the event showing how much each person owes.

Advantages

• Easy to set up.
• Will allow people without credit cards to register.

Disadvantages

• “No shows” may increase if people have not prepaid.
• Collecting the money, making change and writing receipts may create line ups at the event.

Cheque

Pay by cheque works in a similar way as cash except the system will usually tell participants who to make the cheque out to and where to mail it. The online database will show event planners who will be sending a cheque and for how much. As the cheques arrive the event planner can update the database with the paid amounts.

Advantages

• Easy to set up.
• Can collect payments before the event to make sure people attend.
• Good if you expect some people don’t have credit cards or if you are dealing with businesses whose accounting departments prefer to pay by cheque.

Disadvantages

• Manual labour is involved to cash cheques and update the online database.
• Risk of cheques bouncing.
• If registrations are permitted to come in up until the a few days before an event some people’s cheques could be “in the mail” when the event takes place.

Credit Cards - Automatic

Credit cards are probably the method most people are familiar with when using online registration. Participants enter their credit card information and click “submit” to start the processing. If the transaction is approved, funds are automatically transferred to the event planner’s account, the database is updated with the status of the transaction and the participant receives an emailed receipt.

Advantages

• Participants know right away if their card is accepted.
  Event planners are assured the participant has paid and doesn’t have to follow up on bad cheques, or decline credit card numbers.
• Very little labour is required as funds are deposited directly into the event planners account and the online payment report is automatically updated.

Disadvantages

• Setup time can be several weeks by the time the necessary accounts are opened.
• There are fees to pay the bank, the gateway company (the company between the bank and the online registration vendor that is required to facilitate the transaction) and the online registration vendor.

Credit Cards - Manual

A variation on automatic credit card processing that you may want to consider is to securely collect credit card details online and send them to the event planner without processing the transaction at the time of registration. When this type of service is used the event planner processes the credit card the same way they would if obtained via fax or mail using a standard merchant account. Although this system is more labour intensive, it can be more cost effective than automatic processing for smaller events while still getting a firm commitment from participants. Once processed the online payment report can be updated in the same way as with cheques.

Advantages

• Can use an existing standard merchant account.
• Quick and easy to set up.
• Bank fees can be lower and no gateway company is required.

Disadvantages

• Requires manual labour to process the transaction and to update the database.
• Event planners may get some declined cards and have to send time contacting participants to collect payment.

Request an invoice

Before issuing a cheque, some companies may require an invoice for accounting purposes. This can be added as a payment option on the online registration form.
When a person selects “request an invoice” and submits their registration, they will have an electronic invoice detailing the transaction emailed to them. They can then print the email or simply forward it to the appropriate people. The online payment report will show who has been invoiced, including the amounts owing. Again, event planners can update the report when the payment is received.

Advantages

• Allows people who need an invoice to still use the online registration system.
• Saves event planners a lot of time as they don’t have to create and mail the invoices.

Disadvantages

• Not as efficient as using credit card transactions, but may be necessary depending on the participants registering.

Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions or comments about this article.


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