Accepting secure online payments for your law firm

Key quotes:

• "Getting paid is arguably the best part of running an e-commerce business, but which online payment gateway should you use? Each of the major online payment gateways has its pros and cons, with each presenting a whole host of potential for growing your e-commerce business."
• "No matter what your business type, it’s worth doing the research to find the right payment gateway for you."
• "The sole purpose of a payment gateway is to communicate from your store to the consumer’s credit card company in order to evaluate if they have sufficient funds for the transaction."
• "Hosted payment gateways send your customers to an alternate platform to enter their credit card information."
• "If you’re going with a large, trusted provider, this hosted option can offer your customers peace of mind and ease of use."
• "If you’re a larger online company, or if you’ve grown a great deal past your hosted payment gateway, then you’re probably ready to look at integrated payment gateways."

Key quotes:

• "eCheck payments are essentially an online direct from bank payment, so most law firm clients are more comfortable paying their legal bills with eCheck rather than credit card."
• "eCheck payments offer benefits to both attorneys and clients, mostly in the form of price, speed, security, ease of use, and compliance with IOLTA and the ABA Rules of Professional Conduct for accepting online payment."
• "Headnote offers an eCheck payment option that mimics the experience of paying via credit card, made specifically for attorneys and their clients."
• "Clients can pay via eCheck in under 30 seconds and are not required to create a Headnote account, wait for microdeposits, provide their bank account information, or take any action outside of making a few clicks to submit payment."
• "Paper checks also take longer to process once they are deposited into a firm’s bank account than online payment options."
• "Traditional eCheck payment processors require clients to provide bank account and routing numbers to enable payments, which can make some consumers anxious."

Key quotes:

• "ACH is essentially an online direct from bank payment, so most law firm clients are more comfortable paying their legal bills with ACH rather than credit card."
• "With Headnote, clients can pay direct from their bank via ACH with just a few clicks, a process as easy, seamless and secure as paying with a credit card."
• "The entire process takes just 30 seconds and doesn’t require the client to wait for microdeposits, open a Headnote account, or take any action outside of making a few clicks to submit payment."
• "Client friendly: Law firms that work primarily with corporate clients are likely used to accepting payment via direct deposit instead of check or credit card, so accepting payments via ACH makes total sense."
• "While they don’t have the necessary available balance available on their credit card to pay their entire legal bill, they do have the funds available in their bank account."

Key quotes:

• "Your clients are consumers, too, yet only 15% of solos and 12% of small firms are currently offering online payment options for clients to pay their fees."
• "If you aren’t offering clients the option to pay legal fees online, it might be time to start."
• "If a solo attorney or small firm wants to be modern, efficient and business-focused, offering online payment as an option to their cleints is an easy and effective place to start."
• "For instance, by giving you the option of requesting online eCheck payments from you clients instead of credit cards, Headnote can lower your fees to only 1.5% per transaction."
• "Some states have recently updated their rules to allow attorneys to pass off transaction and administrative fees for processing online payments to their clients under certain circumstances."
• "The benefits of accepting online payments outweigh any associated fees, especially considering the value of the time you’ll be saving by streamlining this non-billable AR work."

Key quotes:

• "TimeSolv’s time tracking and legal billing system includes a client portal, which allows your clients to sign in and view their personalized invoices, payment histories, trust balances, and details of work in progress."
• "They can also easily pay their invoices or replenish trust account balances right through the portal, with no need to come into the office or even make a phone call."
• "The partnership between TimeSolv and LawPay allows your law firm the ability to provide your clients with a safe and secure method of online bill pay."
• "A client portal contributes to a more efficient law office by minimizing these time-consuming interactions between your firm members and clients."
• "Instead of calling or dropping by the office, a client can access the portal and view the information they are seeking about billing statements, trust accounts, or case developments."
• "It also allows your clients to independently review what work has been done on their matters without calling the office and taking time away from you or your support staff."