In this post, we will explore the advantages of payment gateways in an online fee management system. Integrating Payment Gateway in School Management System helps schools, colleges and universities is an important tool to Online Fee Management System.
What Is A Payment Gateway?
In the most basic definition, a payment gateway is the online transfer of payment. A payment gateway is the simplest way for a merchant to process payments electronically through different channels.
However, a payment gateway does more than simply process an online payment. It captures and transfers payment data from the customer to the merchant’s bank account. It encrypts sensitive card information, validates the customer’s payment details securely, ensures that funds are available and enables the payment to the merchant. It transfers the payment acceptance or decline status to the customer. And all this is done in a matter of a few seconds – with just one click.
Manually tracking the fees collection for a number of students, is a common challenge for schools, colleges, and other educational institutes. In recent times, many schools are looking to integrate payment gateways into their system to simplify fee payment for parents, donors, and the school administration team.
What Are the Advantages of Payment Gateway in an Online Fee Management System?
- Security
One of the significant advantages of using a digital payment gateway in is the built-in security that it provides. Payment gateways use encryption to protect sensitive data. This ensures that that the financial details of both the school and the parents are protected from fraud.
- Cashless Transactions
The use of a payment gateway ensures that all financial transactions are cashless. Cashless transactions eliminate several risks such as theft of cash or counterfeit money. It is also faster and saves schools time as they do not have to sift through hefty books, receipts and paperwork to find transactions. They can just refer to the automated reports generated by the payment gateway. Not only are cashless transaction more convenient for the school but it also offers benefits to the school parents as they no longer have to spend time commuting to the payment Centre or standing in long queues.
- Payment of Fees from Any Location
One of the most significant advantages of using a payment gateway is an online fee management system in schools is the fact that it allows parents and donors to make payment at any time and from any location across the world. All they need is a smart device with an internet connection and a valid bank account that is compatible with the payment gateway.
Previously, parents would have to queue up on the days for fee payment. The use of a payment gateway simplifies this process for parents. Additionally, the traditional fee and payment collection system were operational only during office hours. The payment gateway is flexible and allows for payments to be made around the clock.
- Instant Transfer of Fees
For schools and educational institutes collecting cash, cheques or demand drafts, there is a lot of manual intervention required. This wastes the precious time of both the school administration team as well as the time of the parents. Additionally, there can be risks of bounced checks, counterfeit currency etc. On the other hand, the use of a payment gateway is an online fee management system not only eliminates this risk but also ensures the instant transfer of fees and speeds up the entire process, making funds accessible to school faster.
- Automated Receipt Generation
In a traditional payment system, the school administration team has to generate receipts for every fee transaction and send the same to the parents. On the other hand, a digital payment gateway creates fee receipts for online transactions instantly. Once the transaction is successfully completed, the parents or fee payers receive communication in the form of an instant message and email. Additionally, if any transaction fails, the parent is immediately notified so that they can retry the payment.
- Automated and Detailed Report Generation
With the integration of a payment gateway in your school, the admin will be getting automated and detailed reports regarding fee transactions. The payment gateway records every transaction and creates reports for the same. They will be able to view the fees collected for a specific period, class or any other category at a single dashboard. These reports will be generated automatically and can be accessed within a few seconds.
- Faster Processing Of Payment
Payment gateways in an online fee management system can ensure that the faster process of payments as compared to cheques or cash that need to be deposited in the bank, and then get processed in a few days, A payment gateway transfers the payment in a few hours ensuring a quicker flow of incoming cash into the school’s account which can be utilized to planned activities and events. The faster processing ensures that daily accounting is a seamless process.
- Storage of Payment Information for Easy Payment
Payment gateways encrypt and store the payment information in a secure manner. This makes it faster and easier when processing future payments to the school. Since it is encrypted, the information cannot be accessed by any fraudsters.
In Conclusion
One of the key features of the School Software Pro is the fully functional payment gateway. This empowers your school to stay updated and accept payments through online credit cards. Parents can enable payment for their annual fees, admission fees, hostel fees, transport fees – in fact any fees or payments that have to be made to the school can be made through the payment gateway that offers numerous benefits to your schools and the parents.