There’s a very important part of freelancing or owning your own business that many people never talk about: collecting payment! Thankfully, today there are so many different options to choose from when it comes to online payment solutions for your transactions with your animation clients.

Each of these solutions have unique features such as analytics, reporting, and other tools that help you manage your money. The only thing you have to do is choose the one that’s best for you.

In this article, we share the ten best online tools for collecting payment from your animation clients.

1) PayPal for Animators

PayPal is a well-known online payment solution that promises a better check out experience for your clients. That’s right: PayPal is for more than just paying a friend back for coffee. You can also use it for your freelance animation business.

It is also highly secure with its 24/7 transaction monitoring and anti-fraud technologies. Some of its notable features include a barcode scanner, invoicing, and virtual terminal.

After setting up a business account or upgrading your PayPal account to a business account, you can start receiving recurring payments, manage your account, and change the amount or date of payments, all from within one app

Integrating PayPal into your website is easy.  You just need to use PayPal’s Express Checkout button and PayPal Payments Standard. These are the buttons your customers will click to check out.

While PayPal Payments Standard allows your animation clients to have the option to pay via PayPal or any credit card choice. There’s alsoPayPal Payments Pro which allows you to create a custom checkout process. This is great to use if you want your check out to blend with your animation website design.

2) Payoneer for Animators

Payoneer is one of the most popular alternatives to PayPal. You can easily receive online payments, and keep track of your balance and transaction history in just a few clicks.

You can get paid securely, even internationally, at a low cost. Payoneer also has a flexible API that allows you to grow with your business.

Their customer support is also top-notch. If you experience issues while using the program, you can reach out to them via live chat, email, or phone and one of their knowledgeable customer service reps will get to work on the problem.

3) Due for Animators

Due is a highly secure end-to-end payment solution targeted at freelancers and individuals.

It has features such as fraud protection, time-tracking, account monitoring, invoicing, reports, and analytics that come at a very low cost with no hidden or monthly fees. It has a flat-rate transaction fee, offers domestic and international credit card processing, and ACH payment processing.

Due also has built-in automation to help you manage your payment processes. This makes it great not just for physical products but for billable services as well.

If you’re looking for a payment system with reasonable rates and full capabilities, Due might be the best option for you.

4) Stripe for Animators

Stripe is one of the best and most well-designed payment systems out there. Along with several different options for your animation business, it has many features including fraud prevention and banking integrations.

Its checkout option is very easy to use even if you aren’t that knowledgeable about payment tools. Even better, you can easily embed Stripe onto your animation website for a clean checkout process for your customers and yourself! 

It’s also optimized for smartphones, laptops, and desktops and can be used to accept credit cards, debit cards, and Bitcoin payments. It’s ready-to-use, but you can always customize the payment process to fit the needs of your business. 

5) GoCardless for Animators

GoCardless is an online tool that allows you to make direct debits for recurring payments and fixed subscriptions. You request permission to withdraw a specified amount from your animation clients’ bank accounts.

The amount you collect can vary from payment to payment depending on the animation services you offer. You can easily set up your GoCardless payment collection system within minutes.

According to Digital.com, if you have an existing system, you can just import your data into GoCardless. Aside from its ease of use, it’s also more affordable than the payment tools out there, both for you and your clients.

6) WePay for Animators

WePay is a payment solution that enables customers to make payments without leaving the website. It’s known for its top-notch customer service, great fraud prevention, fraud detection, and easy-to-use direct bank transfer.

This system offersrisk management and can be used for invoicing and marketing automation. You can use it to customize your checkout forms, confirmation emails, and mobile transactions.

It also has an on-the-go payment feature with a mobile chip card reader and fulfillment services so that you can put payments into an app for a more comfortable user experience.

7) Authorize.net for Animators

Authorize.net is the internet’s most widely-used payment system since 1996. It stays up-to-date with current trends such as integrating with Apple Pay, Visa Checkout, and PayPal to accept international payments.

According to DreamHost, it’s designed for small to medium-sized businesses and has a wide variety of payment options to choose from.

Authorize.net cancater to your animation business’s sales specific needs by allowing checks and mobile payments for recurring or subscription billing. It also provides free fraud detection, a customer information manager, and automated billing.

8) Venmo for Animators

Venmo is a digital wallet owned by PayPal. This app is well-known among millennials and is mostly designed for payments between friends and family.

However, you can use it for business transactions and link it to your animation website as a payment option as long as you link it with either Braintree or PayPal Checkout.

Venmo makes it easy for you to receive money even when you’re on-the-go. It also has intensive security measures and keeps its app data and transactions encrypted.

9) Dwolla for Animators

Dwolla allows you to receive payments not only from companies and individuals, but also receive bank transfers or Automated Clearing House (ACH) payments which means you can be sure to receive payments within a day for free.

In addition, it aims to help everyone to send money at the lowest price possible and has a low fixed rate for every single transaction.

Dwolla is not a card processing solution. Rather, it facilitates fund transfers by linking with your bank account. You can customize it depending on whether or not you have a single, bulk, or recurring payment to receive.

This is a great solution for businesses. It even has a unique feature that allows you to transfer money via LinkedIn connections, email attachments, and phone numbers.

10) TransferWise for Animators

TransferWise is one of the cheapest online money transfer services out there.. They claim to have the fairest exchange rate and have no hidden fees. They also don’t charge any yearly maintenance fee for their card, which can be used for anything.

According to Medium, the idea behind this service is the peer-to-peer system that matches transfer currency from the sender to the recipient.

They also have a borderless account that allows you to hold and transfer money between more than 40 currencies. The money that gets transferred to your account doesn’t actually cross borders, keeping rates low and money transfers fast. 

Wrapping It Up

You have more choices than ever when deciding which payment solution to choose for your business. Each platform has its own advantages, disadvantages, and unique features. It’s up to you to see which works best for you, your clients, and your business.

No matter which payment processing software you choose to receive payments, remember that the most important thing is to make it easy for your clients to pay you.

Not all of your clients use the same payment platforms, so it’s best to give them more options. The more options you give them, the more likely that they will have a smooth process in paying you on time.

If you want to learn more about the business of animation, make sure you join our free masterclass and get a copy of our free marketing handbook.