Table of Contents
What is a Micropayment?
A micropayment refers to a very small online payment, usually less than Rs. 50. Examples include paying Rs. 5-10 to read an online article, or Rs.15 for downloading or streaming a song, ebook chapter, or short video.
Micropayments aim to enable monetising digital goods and services in small increments rather than large upfront payments.
How do Micropayments work?
Micropayments typically work through integration with payment gateways and wallets. Users add a funding source like a credit/debit card, netbanking, or wallet to their account. When they wish to make a micropayment, it is deducted from this account.
The funds are then settled periodically between the payment processor and merchants, after aggregating multiple small transactions. This allows automatic micropayments without requiring direct card entry for every small purchase.
Types of Micropayments:
Prepay Model:
In the Prepay Model, the user deposits an amount of money in their account in advance. The money is then deducted from the deposited amount for each microtransaction, as and when payments are made.
Pay-as-you-go Model:
In the pay-as-you-go model, users pay small amounts for individual actions or services as they consume them, similar to paying for utilities like water or electricity on actual usage.
Postpay Model:
In the Post-pay Model, multiple small payments are accumulated over a period of time and then paid for in one bulk at the end, similar to pay-as-you-go plans used in utilities.
Collaborative model:
The collaborative model involves multiple merchants joining together on a single payment platform, allowing customers to make many small purchases from different merchants using just one account.
Pros of Micropayments:
1) Increased Sales:
Micropayments have the potential to increase sales for businesses as they allow customers to purchase even small-value goods and services online easily without worrying about transaction fees or minimum purchase amounts.
With micropayments, more customers will be willing to make smaller purchases more frequently since the checkout process is seamless. This can significantly boost overall revenue for online sellers.
2) Attracts New Customers:
Micropayments help companies to attract a new set of customers who earlier felt that even nominal or trial payments for digital goods or services were prohibitive for them.
With micropayments, which are as low as a penny or a few rupees, more users can explore and access digital content, games, apps or services initially in a very low-cost way, which can eventually convert them into paying customers.
3)Alternative to Ad Revenue:
Micropayments can provide an alternative revenue source to advertisements for content creators and service providers online. As micropayments allow even small monetary transactions, content creators do not have to rely solely on ads to monetise their work.
Users may be more willing to spend small amounts frequently rather than view multiple ads, opening up new business models based on direct payments.
4) Flexible Payment Options:
Micropayments provide more flexible payment options for users as it allows paying small amounts for individual services or virtual/digital goods rather than requiring payment for larger bundled services upfront.
This flexibility enables businesses to offer a wider variety of payment plans, subscription options and pay-per-use models, which can provide greater choice and convenience for customers.
5) Support for Diverse Markets:
Micropayments allow for monetisation of many small, niche markets and items which were previously not viable with traditional payment methods due to high transaction costs.
This helps diversify the digital economy and supports long-tail business models that involve selling many unique, low-cost products in small quantities to many customers. It opens up new opportunities.
Cons of Micropayments:
1) High processing costs:
With micropayments, the transaction amounts are very small, often below 50 rupees. However, the processing fees charged by payment providers are relatively high and do not decrease with transaction size.
This makes the processing costs disproportionately large compared to the payment amount, hurting merchant margins and business viability for low-priced goods and services.
2) Complex Payment Flows:
Processing numerous small-value micropayments on a daily basis can create complex payment flows and reconciliation challenges for merchants.
With many individual micropayments occurring in short intervals, it becomes difficult for merchants to keep track of all the incoming and outgoing payments. This complexity in payment flows increases the bookkeeping efforts for merchants.
3) Fraud and Chargebacks :
With many small transactions occurring, the risk of fraud and chargebacks increases substantially. Fraudsters can more easily make off with small amounts from many users before detection.
Similarly, with numerous low-value payments, it is much harder for payment providers to effectively manage disputes and chargebacks, increasing costs. The paperwork and effort to resolve disputes on many small payments may outweigh the revenue collected.
4) Not Ideal for All Products:
Micropayments are not suitable for all types of products and services because charging very small amounts for high-value products would make the micropayment processing fees disproportionately large.
Products that are expensive and infrequently purchased, like electronics or appliances, are better suited to one-time larger payments rather than multiple micropayments, which could end up costing the consumer more.
5) Impulse buying:
When micropayments are very small amounts, it can encourage more impulse buying from consumers. People may tend to spend on many small random purchases without thinking much when the payment amount is very small.
This may cause overspending at times, as the cumulative cost of many small impulse buys is not realised in the moment. Micropayments need to be designed carefully to avoid triggering excessive impulse spending.
How Ntt Data Helps You With Micropayments
NTT DATA Payment Services offers a complete payment solution to advance both your offline and online businesses. From online payment gateway and mPOS to IVR payments and Bharat QR Scan and Pay, we ensure maximum comfort, convenience, and safety for all your payments.
NTT Data Payment Services plays a pivotal role in facilitating micropayments by offering unified transaction processing that ensures quick and secure payments for small amounts. Our solutions minimise transaction fees, making micropayments more viable for both consumers and merchants.
Conclusion
While micropayments open new monetisation opportunities, their pros and cons need careful evaluation based on business objectives and target customers.
Strategies like bundling micropayments or offering alternative purchase options can address some cons. With the right enabling technologies and business processes, micropayments have significant potential to change digital commerce and unlock new revenue streams.
FAQs
1) What is a micropayment?
A micropayment refers to a very small online payment, usually less than Rs. 50. It allows purchasing digital goods and services in small increments.
2) What are the different types of micropayment models?
The main micropayment models are prepay, pay-as-you-go, postpay and collaborative models.
3)What are the pros of micropayments?
Some key pros include increased sales, the ability to attract new customers, providing an alternative to ad-based revenue, offering flexible payment options, and supporting diverse niche markets.
4)How can businesses address the cons of micropayments?
Strategies like bundling micropayments, offering purchase options, minimising transaction fees and ensuring quick payments can help address the cons.
5) What are examples of micropayments?
Digital products like online articles, songs, ebook chapters, videos, etc., which can be consumed in small increments, are well-suited for micropayment models.
