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As a SaaS vendor with customers in the EU, bank transfers have been a huge pain for us. We have to log into the bank website to confirm we’ve received an amount
by leesalminen 9y ago
As a SaaS vendor with customers in the EU, bank transfers have been a huge pain for us. We have to log into the bank website to confirm we’ve received an amount. Then we have to match it up with an invoice, mark it as paid, etc.
Conversely, with a debit/credit card that’s all automated. No manual labor involved.
Could we automate international bank transfers? Probably. But customers end up using a debit/credit card because it’s the only option offered.
We recently rolled out ACH bank transfer payments (US only) and offered an amazon gift card for anyone who wanted to switch. <5% of our customer base utilized this option.
- wilgertvelinga 9y agoEuropean accounting and/or invoicing software can automatically read in your bank statements, detect paid invoices and mark them as paid, no manual work!
- vitro 9y agoChoose a bank with API. My bank has it and it is easy to automate this process.
- leesalminen 9y agoAny recommendations?
- vitro 9y agoCzech Fio banka is the one I use, http://fio.cz http://fio.cz Allows you to create read only or full access tokens.
- Promarged 9y agoAfter PSD 2 directive comes into effect (expected 2019?) all European banks will have to have an API.
- tixocloud 9y agoActually we’ve been prepping for 2018 launch.
- Bombthecat 9y agoWho is we? :)
- vetinari 9y agoThe world is small... I always liked Fio, they had documented API and you could do whatever you wanted even in ages, when other banks insisted on using their software.
- Bombthecat 9y agoSoon or later all banks in Europe because of psd2. You might also want to check out figo and fidor.
- fyfy18 9y agoGoCardless (YC S11) allow you to accept direct debit payments across Europe: https://gocardless.com/ https://gocardless.com/
- fludlight 9y agoThis is not available for businesses based in the USA[1]. Also, the maximum amount for a single transaction is €5,000, which is inadequate for many (most?) B2B SaaS products. [1] https://gocardless.com/faq/merchants/international-payments/ https://gocardless.com/faq/merchants/international-payments/ [2] https://gocardless.com/faq/merchants/ https://gocardless.com/faq/merchants/ edit: link #2
- thaeli 9y agoEven in the US, I can't pay a $5000 invoice on a credit card. That's over the threshold where either they accept a purchase order, or we can't use them at all.
- galvin 9y agoYou may want to look into the SEPA direct debit system. It lets you send a file to your bank to request transfers and they send you back a file with the results. You have to register for a debitor identifier and ask your customers for permission to debit their accounts first but overall it works well and can be automated. It's the standard way to do direct debits in Europe.
- vetinari 9y agoDirect debit doesn't work with all companies, it certainly would not work with ours. It gives too much control to outside parties.
- dtech 9y agoWithin SEPA direct debit, you can reverse a charge if it was unwarranted. In my experience, it's a lot more common and accepted than credit card business payments in Europe.
- quickthrower2 9y ago> have been a huge pain for us Opportunity, business idea seekers!
- moreless 9y agoThis! In a world where very startup tries to deal with "sexy" problems like ML, AI, blockchain / distributed ledger, ... there is a lot that can be done to just ease the problems real enterprises have. This is for sure one of them - payment processor which takes CC and SEPA, with proper API and automations.
- nik736 9y agoStripe offers SEPA
- zerostar07 9y agowell blockchains are about payments