A payments solution for a variety of professional services

IPromise’s mission is ‘cleaning up the payment process for Kiwi businesses’.  And that, they are doing with their “Everyday Escrow” solution

Initially IPromise’s intentions were to develop a product that would help the building and construction industry manage timely payment of projects.  The idea came about from first-hand experience of wasted administration time and money down the drain due to lack of payment.

The team at IPromise love to see local businesses (like marketing agencies) succeed and are committed to supporting them to become more efficient, while providing amazing services to their customers.  Their  online business payment solution is an easy way for businesses and their customers to undertake jobs and provide services, with their payment protected (in escrow) until the job or service has been completed.

Using IPromise means businesses don’t have to spend unnecessary time on administrative tasks (like chasing invoices, or managing projects across multiple platforms), losing out on business opportunities, waiting for payments for completed work, or worse – not receiving payment at all. And there’s nothing worse than seeing customers unsatisfied with the job delivered, or a job only half done.  The solution is a win-win all round.

Escrow Solution

Virtual Marketers is a local growing, busy marketing business. They saw IPromise’s everyday escrow as a way to securely manage payments with new clients they hadn’t worked with before; or for one-off projects such as a website build, for their existing clients.

Requesting a part payment or deposit before the commencement of a project does occur in New Zealand, but it often leaves the customer in an unsecured position – handing over money for something they don’t yet have. Service providers like Virtual Marketers have been left out of pocket by clients who are unreasonable with the way their project is progressing. Requesting part payment through IPromise to kick off a marketing project has never been easier or more secure, and leaves both parties feeling at ease as they launch into the journey ahead.

And, Virtual Marketers’s customers who use IPromise enjoy that they can pay up front, but know payment won’t be released until both parties are happy. This is perfect for building trusted, ongoing relationships between businesses and customers. For existing working relationships, using IPromise helps support these relationships for individual projects, while the long standing, ongoing arrangements they have are built on trust.

Escrow

The great thing about IPromise is that any service based business can use and benefit from this simple, efficient tool.  Whether you’re in the construction industry, provide marketing services, cleaning services, or you’re a wedding photographer!  You, as the business owner, benefit from the commitment shown by your customer’s deposit, and your customers benefit knowing that they have to approve the completed job before  that payment is released.  If you’re in the service industry, IPromise is the best way forward and is a real selling point for winning new business over your competitors.

As a service provider, we decided we wanted to start de-risking our cash flow – and IPromise was the answer. The biggest three benefits we’ve gotten so far are; 

  1. IPromise secures payment for our services before we have even started the work (we can see the funds are sitting in a trust ready for payout once we’ve finished work), 
  2. IPromise increases our cash flow (we get those funds as soon as a project is completed, not when the invoice is due 20 days later), and 
  3. It provides us with a new USP against our competitors (deposits and upfront payments sit in a trust, we don’t get paid unless we complete work so we can’t run away with your deposits). 

The whole solution is a no-brainer for anyone running a services business.

Jimmy McLean, Virtual Marketers

If you’re a local service-based business and don’t have the time or money for someone to look after your payments, head to IPromise for your free 90-day trial.  You won’t look back.