Finally, it is here – a free direct Stripe Keap / Infusionsoft integration.
So what does this mean?
If you use Keap / Infusionsoft and conduct e-commerce then you need a way to collect the payment online. Until now this has meant using one or more of the following solutions.
1/ You can use Paypal. This is works for a simple one-off payment. But not if you want to take part-payments or ongoing subscription payments. In addition, to collect the payment means the customer is taken off to Paypal to either pay directly from their Paypal balance or via a credit/debit card. This is more involved for the customer than simply entering the credit card details into the Keap / Infusionsoft order form or shopping cart.
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2/ You can integrate your own merchant account. So you just get your own merchant account. From my experience, this can take weeks to get approved and in the past clients have gone through a lengthy application process with the likes of WorldPay only to be declined at the final stage ( I had one client run up a 1000 Euro legal bill just to get the application completed and it was then declined by WorldPay). In addition, you will probably have to pay a monthly fee of about £40/mo. but you will most likely be able to negotiate on commission rates.
3/ You can use the Keap Payments. This is simple to set up and charge 2.9% and $0.30 per transaction (as of March 2020). This works with just your Keap / Infusionsoft account. This is probably not as low cost as you can get if you set up your own merchant account (see point 2) but it depends on the volume of transactions you put through. The other point to remember is that it can take 7 days for the monies to land in your bank account.
4/ Stripe using a third-party integration. So you could use Stripe with Keap / Infusionsoft previously, but it required a third-party integration at an additional annual cost.
And now we have a direct and free Stripe Keap / Infusionsoft integration …
4/ And now you can set up Stripe directly within your Keap / Infusionsoft for free. So you can easily and quickly set up a free Stripe account and integrate it with Keap / Infusionsoft. The fees are 2.9% and $0.30 per transaction (as of March 2020), again as per Keap Payments it is probably not the best commission rate. But Stripe can integrate with other tools, for instance, I have Stripe set up with my Xero accounting, then I can enable my consulting clients to click the Pay Now button on the invoice that I send via email and they can pay there and then via credit/ debit card. The other point to remember is that it can take 7 days for the monies to land in your bank account. Here is further information on the Stripe Keap / Infusionsoft integration from Keap / Infusionsoft by Keap.
So what is the best solution for you? Well, if you are doing high volumes of transactions you will most likely benefit from having your own merchant account and having the ability to negotiate the lowest commission rate. If you do low and/or infrequent online transactions then I would say that the Stripe option would be best for you.
And for ALL clients I would definitely recommend having multiple options set up by which you can collect online payments. So even if you are happy with using just Paypal or just your own merchant account then I would definitely spend the time to set up a free Stripe account as a backup. Why? Well, I have seen this on multiple occasions where either Paypal or a merchant account (namely WorldPay) suddenly decide to cancel your account. This usually happens when your account activity reaches a threshold and triggers a review of your account eg when you suddenly start receiving more / larger payments. Or if you are collecting subscriptions and the number suddenly increases. In these situations, the bank can become liable were you to “dissapear” and so it triggers them to ask your for more proof of who you are and your business model and this can simply result in them shutting your account down with no questions asked. (This once happened to me where Paypal shut the account down and as insurance against chargebacks they held on the the £30,000 in the account for a whole 6 months). So having Stripe as a back up that you can quickly switch too if the need should arise can be a useful insurance policy.
If you would like to discuss andy of the Stripe Keap / Infusionsoft points above feel free to schedule a 15-minute Discovery call.
