Globalization, the rise of the sharing economy (and creator economy), and a shifting consumer mindset have led to an emergent need for new business models to facilitate transactions at all ecosystem levels. Today’s creators are not just content creators anymore; they are small businesses with a personal brand, small shops with a loyal customer base, and big brands ready to extend their reach through an e-commerce platform.
Think of a creator with a YouTube channel or a social media influencer with a huge presence across several social platforms; that's the world we live in today. Individual creators make a lot of money thanks to the power of influencer marketing.
It's undoubtedly a digital world we live in today. New platforms are emerging every day, giving video creators and online influencers more power to sell their digital products to their followers and generate money through ad revenue, brand partnerships, revenue streams, exclusive content, subscription fee and sponsored posts.
Payments sent via digital currencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum are faster, cheaper, and safer than traditional payments, which can take days to arrive. This is a huge benefit for independent artists and creators, including social media influencers, who don't have the time or resources to wait for payments or pay high fees. It also provides a safe harbor for creators to store their money without the risk of fraud or theft that can occur with traditional payments. It's exciting to see the digital currency market continue to expand as a payment option for creators, and I'm proud to be part of its growth.
Digital payments are a huge driving force behind the success of the creator economy because it gives creators a chance to collect payments securely and easily. It also opens up new revenue opportunities for platforms since they can now take a cut of payments in-platform rather than relying on content creators to send them a small portion of their revenue. This can shift more money from platforms to creators and further democratize content creation. Today, most digital payments are made using cards and bank accounts, which are fast, cheap with some provers, and does not require a lot of paperwork.
One of the biggest challenges in the digital payments industry is fraud, costing creators and consumers billions of dollars yearly. The current model for fraud detection - which relies mainly on manual checks - is slow, inefficient, and often incorrect. It also creates a financial disincentive for creators to provide high-quality content to their audiences because they know they may have to pay fraud fines when others use their content. Instead of relying on outdated and ineffective systems, we need to innovate and experiment with new approaches to solve the problem of fraud.
But while digital payments are great in their own right, they are not enough to support a healthy creator economy. To do that, creators need access to other financial services, such as loans, lines of credit, and credit cards. The problem is that traditional banks have been slow to provide access to these services to creators in the online space. But there are now several online-only banks that provide these services, and many of them have been expanding their reach to other creators in the online space.
Digital payments are now contributing hugely to the growth of the creator economy, so as a content creator, you need to understand their importance perfectly. In 2018, digital payments accounted for more than half of all consumer payments in the United States. This is a significant milestone, allowing creators to reach new audiences and monetize their work more efficiently. The momentum will only continue in the next few years as digital payments grow at an average annual rate of 20% for the next three years. This will enable creators to increase their revenue and expand their audiences.
Over the past year, the amount of money spent on digital payments for content has increased significantly and is expected to continue to grow at a similar rate over the next year. This is significant because it means that the amount of money generated from digital payments is beginning to surpass the amount generated from traditional sales. This means that the creator economy is growing faster than ever, and is poised to continue to do so in the future.
This new era has ushered in a new age of convenience and accessibility to financial services, allowing anyone to pay content creators and creators directly. This has been a tremendous development for creators, who now have more ways to receive revenue, and the ecosystem is only continuing to evolve.
Digital payments power the creator economy. These payment methods enable anyone with a smartphone and Internet access to operate as a business - from anywhere in the world - without having to set up physical bank accounts or hire bookkeepers. Read on for more detail about how digital payments can power your business.
Easy Ways To Accept Payments
Accepting payments from international businesses/clients as an African creator was never easy because there was no wide acceptance of digital payments then. But as the digitization economy continues to grow, so does the acceptance of these new payment methods by merchants, shoppers, and consumers. Today, international businesses/clients accept digital payments in various ways. Some accept them via credit card, others by bank transfer, and others by direct deposit.
If you register with a payment provider like IntaSend, all you need to get started is create an account, go through the verification process, create invoices, and start sending them out. IntaSend is an African payment provider, so they understand the importance of getting receiving payments from anywhere in the world, ensuring fast payments, and protecting your personal and financial information. The existence of digital payments has made creating invoices and receiving payments from anywhere in the world very easy. In the past, businesses in many different industries printed invoices and then physically mailed them to their customers. Today, people use digital tools to manage their invoices, and they can also pay their bills online. The internet has also made it easier to send invoices.
If you’re wondering how you can receive payments from anywhere in the world digitally, especially IntaSend, follow the easy steps we’ll be highlighting below;
Create an account
Getting started with any payment provider requires you to have an account. If you’re not an existing customer, you need to register with your information, including a valid phone number and email address. Once you have an account, you’ll need to verify your information. This usually involves sending a code or providing a numerical code over the phone or via text. This step verifies your identity and protects your account from someone else's access. It’s also used to garner more information about you.
Choose how you want to get paid
Once you’ve created an account, the next thing would be to choose how you want to get paid. If you have a website for your brand as a creator, you might want to integrate an easy-to-use API to receive payments seamlessly from your clients. This way, your clients can make payments or perform other actions without having to contact you directly. API Integration will allow you to accept money from other people outside of your brand, potentially making more money.
On the other hand, you can just create an invoice, fill in some details, choose your preferred payment method, and send it to your client who will then pay you by clicking on the link attached to the invoice. IntaSend provides many ways for you to get paid. This include card payments, mobile payments, bank transfers, and Bitcoin.
Learn how to request for payment: Invoice best practices that help you get paid
Pay Anyone, Anywhere (Mass Payout)
As a creator in the creator economy, you must understand what it means to have a team of experts working with you to make your dreams come alive. There are so many ways to collaborate with others to create something amazing, from video creation to hiring virtual assistants to do menial tasks. The possibilities are endless. As your team grows, so will your headache about paying them all at the same time.
Digital payments will ensure that you can pay all your workers at once from a single transaction and keep track of everything. They will help protect your privacy and keep your transactions secure. They will also give you real-time access to your money so that you can pay a worker when you need to without waiting for the next payment cycle. Most importantly, digital payments will make it easier to manage your money, so that you don't have to spend time finding bills and tracking spending.
You’ll have a full history of your payments, which should eliminate the need for time-consuming paperwork. You’ll also be able to manage your finances from anywhere. You’ll be able to access your bank account information, transfer funds between accounts, and make digital payments. This will allow you to expand your workforce in the most efficient way.
Wallet As A Service
Wallet as a service is another payment solution digital payment brings to the table, especially for mobile banking. Some banks are already working on building out their version of a Wallet as a Service, where you can store money, make payments, and access your account all in one app. This is a way to simplify your banking experience, but it also brings increased security, because you don’t have to share access to your sensitive information with a third party.
With a wallet as a service enables you to automate payments and provide an easier way to reconcile. You are able to move money across wallets owned by you, separate funds, and disburse to mobile money and banks. If you are working on a creator economy startup/market places, using the wallet as a service, you are able to separate funds for each creator and automate payments disbursements.
Learn more about Wallet Service use cases - 9 best examples
Digital Payments Are Secure
In the past, people weren't sure of the strength of digital payments' security, but that's not a worry anymore as digital payments are becoming more and more secure. In fact, digital payments are now considered to be more secure than traditional payments. Some of the security features that have been built into digital payments include the ability to verify the identity of the person making the payment, the ability to block suspicious transactions, and the ability to provide customers with a digital receipt. All of these security features help to protect customers' payment information and make digital payments a better experience than traditional payments.
Most payment providers have now adopted the PSD2 security protocols, which grant access to recognized parties. This has allowed brands to communicate with authorized systems when a payment is required, rather than relying on the traditional one-way payment mechanism. The result has been a more transparent customer experience, faster payment times, and increased security. This has led to an increase in the number of consumers who use the secure payment option.
Digital Payments Are Cheaper To Use
Another reason why you should choose digital payments over any other option is that they're a whole lot cheaper to use. When you use a traditional method of payment, such as cash or a check, you're paying a fee to the bank or merchant for every transaction. With digital payments, however, you're only charged a small network fee when you use your card to make a purchase online or over the phone. It's a lot more convenient and cost-effective to use digital payments over traditional ones. Even better is the fact that with digital payments you can protect your sensitive information, like your card number and personal information, from hackers.
Using digital payments will save you a lot of money than any other payment option. A payment provider like IntaSend even offers as low as a 1% fee for every mobile money transaction, 3.5% for card local payment deposits. When you compare these low fees to what traditional payments charge for their services, you can see why digital payments are the way to go.
Bonus Point
APIs and automation
Whether you're a business owner or a content creator, integrating digital payments on your platform is a great way to increase your revenue, and the good thing is that it's very easy. There are a number of different ways you can implement digital payments on your platform, such as accepting online payments, processing in-app purchases, and more. The first thing you should do is set up a merchant account so that you can accept online payments from your customers. You can find a variety of different merchant accounts to choose from, but if you're an African creator, IntaSend remains your best bet. The company offers easy-to-use APIs and the lowest transaction fees.
Conclusion
The creator economy has created a great shift in power since it became popular. It has allowed many creators to build successful businesses and brands in the mainstream content creation world. It has also altered the roles of marketing and media in the content creation world. Creators are now in a role where they create in a different way than marketing people ever did and where marketing people never did. Creators are now in charge of a large number of people, and they are held accountable to their audience.
The role of digital payments in the success of the creator economy cannot be overemphasised. Content creators can do all the hard work, but getting paid or sending payments to their team members has always been difficult. The rise of digital payments has made it easier for creators to get paid and send payments easily. In this article, we've discussed how digital payments can power the creator economy, which is something you need to understand perfectly if you want to build a successful career in the creator economy.
