Why online payments are good for your swim school?

Imagine the following scenario: Customer, a busy working mother of three, had been struggling to find time to make in-person payments for her children's swim lessons. She had considered switching to a different swim school that offered online payments but was hesitant to do so as her children had already developed relationships with their instructors and classmates.

When the swim school implemented online payments, the mother was thrilled. She was able to easily and securely make payments from her mobile device, eliminating the need for her to take time off work or disrupt her busy schedule. The ease of the online payment process made her feel valued as a customer, helped to solidify her commitment to the swim school and the customer was happy to recommend the school to her friends and family. How common is this customer’s situation? And also how common is this swim school’s solution? Swim schools have traditionally relied on in-person payments or, whether it be cash, check, or credit card, to manage tuition fees and other expenses associated with their programs. However, with the increasing popularity of online payments, swim schools are beginning to explore new ways to manage their finances and streamline their operations.

Accepting online payments can offer many benefits for swim school, including increased sales and improved customer satisfaction and reduced administrative burden. Also there could be a number of challenges when it comes to online payments whether it is the security and selecting the right solution or platform for your school or what payment methods to accept. Based on a 2022 McKinsey survey, nearly two-thirds of SMBs used multiple services from their payments provider. The 2022 Capgemini report is showing that the trend is going towards all-in-one solution for SMBs, e.g. having just one platform to manage payments whether they are from payment cards, digital wallets or from direct debit. 

This is where Sportimea comes in. Our automated payment solution allows you to streamline the entire process so that you can focus on what matters most: teaching your students how to swim! Sportimea offers a number of features that can help you manage your swim school payments.

• Payment gateway integrations: Sportimea integrates with Stripe, the leading online payment processor in the world. This means that you can accept credit card payments on your website or mobile app without requiring any additional hardware or software to install.
• Customizable payment plans: You can set up custom plans for different types of lessons and memberships, including monthly recurring fees and one-time fees for registration or membership renewals. You can also offer discounts based on how long someone has been a member, how many lessons they've taken, etc.

Quite recently, a swim school in the UK has successfully implemented Sportimea to allow customers to pay for their lessons online. The owner of this swim school was looking for a way to grow revenue and improve customer satisfaction. He found that Sportimea met all his needs: it was easy to set up, provided secure payments, and was affordable. Now that he's using automated payments through Sportimea's Online payments, he has seen an increase in revenue as well as improved customer satisfaction scores from clients who appreciate not having to wait around for checks or cash at the end of each lesson!

In summary, online payments offer many benefits for swim schools, including increased convenience, improved cash flow, and increased customer retention. However, swim schools must also be aware of the challenges associated with online payments, such as security concerns and processing fees. By weighing the benefits and challenges and implementing best practices for online payment processing, swim schools can take advantage of the convenience and efficiency of online payments while also protecting their customers' sensitive financial information.

If you’d like to learn more about online payments and how Sportimea can help you in this area do not hesitate to reach out to us and schedule a call.