“I got into the graphic design business right after graduating from Zetech University,” begins Robert Kimani. He had studied theatre arts and film technology at a college in Nairobi. After graduating in 2019, he found himself spending much time on YouTube watching graphic design, animation and video editing.
“I did not have any extra money to fund my interest in graphic design and so I had to do it the hard way. All I had was a laptop and the school library where I could access free internet,” he says. His interest grew bit by bit as he developed his own creations from cartoon illustrations, event poster designs and logo designs. “I posted my creations on social media. People liked the creativity, consistency and the progress I portrayed and started making orders,” he says.
Today, he promotes his business majorly online through a website, WhatsApp, Facebook, TikTok and Instagram.
To ensure that he continues to attract multiple customers, Kimani has been accepting online card payments via Chapa Pay, which is Co-op Bank’s eCommerce solution.
“Chapa Pay eCommerce solution allows me to receive online card payments from your customers directly into my Co-op Bank account,” he says.
How does this solution work without a website, we wanted to find out? The merchant receives a unique link (Pay-By-Link) which they will use to invoice their customers. It works as follows:
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1. Once the merchant and the customer agree on the pricing, the merchant sends the payment link to the customers email address.
2. The customer will receive an invoice with the link on their email.
3. The link will open up a portal where the customer will insert their card details and the amount they are to pay.
4. Once the payment goes through, the merchant will receive a payment confirmation via email and SMS.
5. The customer will also receive a notification via SMS in the event they have subscribed to SMS alert with their card provider.
It also comes with multiple advantages that include the following:
1. The merchant does not incur any cost to get the Pay-By-Link solution. It is FREE to get onboarded.
2. The solution is secure, because it is 3D secure, with two factor authentication for all card payments
3. In the event a customer makes a wrong payment, the merchant can reverse the payment without calling the bank for a reversal
4. The customer cannot reverse a payment, therefore reduces the risks to merchants, to lose money from dubious characters
5. Payment reconciliation is easy for the merchant since they can track payment and view payment from a single dashboard.
