Are you still mailing paper invoices to your customers through the good ole United States Postal Service? Here are some astonishing numbers:
- One ream of paper (500 sheets) can cost anywhere between $4 and $7
- A 500-count box of business envelopes hovers around the price of $30
- Bulk postage can cost between 21 to 27 cents per letter; standard postage is 34 to 49 cents
So, mailing one bill to one customer, on the cheaper side, can cost roughly 28 cents. Multiply that by, say, 100 customers; then multiply THAT by 12 months. That’s $336 spent annually on billing customers the “old-fashioned way.”
What is Email Invoicing?
“Email invoicing allows the customer to click a link within the email to pay their invoice online using either bank account information (ACH) or a credit card. Moreover, email invoicing helps the merchant record payment information in an online terminal for easy access,” said iCG Pay’s Daphne Norris.
This system is best suited for merchants who typically mail a paper invoice to their customers but would like to have the convenience of online payments instead.
iCG Pay (formerly known as iCheckGateway.com) has the ultimate email invoicing solutions that generate an annual mailing cost of $0.00.
How Does Email Invoicing Work?
When customers receive a merchant invoice email, they click on the specified payment link that takes the customer to a hosted payments page. This payment is then recorded and managed by the merchant in an online virtual terminal. Our invoicing solutions not only provide a more accessible and quicker way for customers to pay their invoices but also create a dashboard to help merchants keep track of the following payment data:
- Open invoices
- Paid invoices
- Customer name
- Invoice date
- Due dates color-coded based on status
- Invoice amount
- Paid confirmation code, etc.
Additionally, all payments appear in the merchant’s iCG Pay account, matching invoice numbers for consolidated reporting. We also have a support method for merchants with an active customer database.
“If the merchant’s invoice database can export information into an Excel spreadsheet, then it is possible to upload a group of invoices into our invoicing system all at once,” Norris said. “Once imported with the correct formatting requirements, merchants can mail invoices to a large group of customers with a single click. The update process leaves the merchant’s original database intact too.”
Merchants that adopt email invoicing also benefit from a custom payment portal matching the design of their website. We create this custom portal on a secure-hosted site, so customers can feel more confident while paying online.
“Generally, a small setup fee covers the cost of customizing the invoice to match the design of the merchant’s webpage,” Norris said. “The only ongoing cost would be the standard per transaction fee associated with all online transactions, processed through payment pages, email invoices, or IVR.”
Ready to take the next step in streamlining your company’s accounts receivables? Speak with our team of relationship managers today.
Date Originally Published: November 17, 2015
Date updated: March 6, 2024
