Insights by Wave: Get paid faster with automatic payments

Here at Wave, we’re always looking for ways to help our users grow their businesses. That’s why we analyzed over 2.6 million Wave invoices from the past 12 months to uncover insights that’ll help you get paid faster. (Believe it or not, it wasn’t because we like to look at numbers all day.)

Here’s the TLDR on what we found: Small business owners who turned on automatic payments and saved their repeat customers’ payment information in Wave were more likely to get paid way faster than those who didn’t.
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Interested in learning how automatic payments can benefit your business? 👀 In this post, we’ll dig deeper into our research, go over how to set up automatic payments, and give you some tips that’ll set you up to get paid faster. Read on to get the inside scoop! 

The latest Wave research on automatic payments

Back to the cold, hard facts on how setting up automatic payments can get you paid faster.

Our research found that:

• Wave users who turn on automatic payments and have their customers’ payment information saved in Wave are more likely to get paid in around 1.3 days.
• Wave users who turn on automatic payments but don’t have their customers’ payment information saved in Wave are more likely to get paid in around 10.2 days.
• Wave users who don’t use automatic payments and don’t have their customers’ payment information saved are more likely to get paid in 12 days, on average.
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As you can see, you’re more likely to get paid faster when you turn on automatic payments and get your customers to save their payment info in Wave.

The benefits of automatic payments 

Being more likely to get paid in only one day obviously rocks, but there are so many other benefits of turning on automatic payments, including:

• Speeding up your cash flow (more money on hand, no problems) 
• Saving time on monthly billing, sending out invoices, or depositing checks, since it’s all automatic! 
• Cutting down on bookkeeping—automatic payments flow right into your records
• Getting peace of mind knowing you won’t have to chase your customers for payments 
• Avoiding those awkward “per my last email” follow ups that make you feel like a nag 🙄   
• Providing your customers with an awesome and convenient checkout experience

How to set up automatic payments

Ready to take advantage of automatic payments? We’ll break down how to get set up.

Step one: Set up recurring invoices

If you haven’t already, set up our online payments feature.

After that, you’ll need to set up recurring invoices before you set up automatic payments. Here’s an article with step-by-step instructions on how to set up recurring invoices for repeat customers. 

Step two: Turn on automatic payments 

Next up, set up automatic payments on your recurring invoices! This article goes over exactly how to do this, but here’s the gist:

• Click Sales & Payments > Recurring Invoices.
• Select the recurring invoice you want to edit.
• In the “Get Paid” section, click “Edit,” then choose “Switch to automatic payments.”

Step three: Tell your customers to save their payment information in Wave 

Now, all you have to do is tell your repeat customers to save their payment information in Wave when they pay an invoice to ensure any future invoices you send them get paid instantly.

Keep in mind, there’s a trust component when it comes to customers hitting that “save this card” button. You might need to build trust with your customers for a few months before telling them about the option to save their payment info in Wave.

If the thought of having “the talk” is starting to sound a bit stressful, here are some tips:

• Bring the topic up lightly—don’t pressure your customers! 
• Let your customers know it’s completely safe and secure
• Remind them this makes paying faster and more convenient for them! Who doesn’t love a win-win? 

Get started with automatic payments today

And there you have it—all the compelling reasons to set up automatic payments and the steps on how to make it happen. If you’re ready to get paid faster and make your customers’ lives easier, set up automatic payments today (and, when the time is right, let your customers know to save their payment information!).

<sup>‍A few notes about accepting online payments through Wave:

‍Approval is subject to eligibility criteria, including identity verification and credit review. Payments are a pay-per-use feature; no monthly fees here! Your deposit times may vary based on your financial institution. All payments are subject to a risk review and periodic credit risk assessments are done on business owners because we need to cover our butts (and yours). In some cases, we may hold funds and request more information if we need it for the protection of your business and Wave's.</sup>