Taking an esignature and receiving a payment are often part of the same customer workflow. So why do many esignature software companies treat payments like an afterthought?
For example, Docusign payments are only available through a plugin with select integration partners. This means they don’t offer a native, built-in payment solution.
Drawbacks of Separate eSignatures and Payments
Companies expect esignature software to manage digital documents and offer photo and file uploads.
You deserve all these tools your business needs in one place—with payments alongside them.
A business with separate esignature and payment software, or a plugin like Docusign payments, will experience drawbacks:
- Extra steps added to the customer journey because of separate systems for messages and payments.
- Extra costs and training for two separate software platforms for esignatures and payments.
- Isolated reporting, so you can’t get a full overview of workflow performance.
- Plugins often require inconvenient workarounds that impact your customer experience.
PDCflow Payments Vs. Docusign Payments
Of course, even when your digital signature software offers payments, they may not be a priority.
If your vendor doesn’t have built-in payments, you’re probably missing out on benefits and might even be paying more for services.
Here is a breakdown of PDCflow vs Docusign Payments:
PDCflow vs Docusign payments
PDCflow Payments
DocuSign Payments
Features
PDCflow’s Native Payments Vs. Docusign Payment Plugin
PDCflow’s payment processing functionality has been a core part of our software for more than two decades.
We have established relationships with several credit card and ACH merchant vendors—including underwriting options for high-risk industries.
Because payments are a native feature, our development team continues to put thought and care into our payment enhancements.
This makes it possible to create a well-rounded, flexible tool that lets your company manage documents, payments, and other workflows all in one place.
PDCflow and Customer Support
How big corporations treat you when you need help has been shifting for years (and not for the better).
At PDCflow, we capture customer feedback from companies just like yours, to help us prioritize and plan future development work.
Software companies like Docusign for payments and esignatures, don’t have the agility—or motivation—to listen to feedback, so features get designed without an actual business use case in mind.
If good, reliable support at no extra cost is important to you, ask:
- Can you know that when you email or call customer support, the person on the other end is actually in-house, knows the software functionality, and isn’t just part of a massive call center?
- Does the company try to make you talk to an AI chatbot or look at resources alone before you can even request help from a person?
- Can you call your software company and meet directly with their product managers or other staff for feedback and suggestions?
Real PDCflow Use Cases for Documents, eSignatures, and Payments
The features you can access in your software should have a real-world application. Otherwise, you’re wasting money.
We pay attention to why people choose PDCflow, and often talk to existing customers about how they’re using our tools.
Here are some of the common ways companies use PDCflow for many types of tasks.
- Sales: Deliver a contract and a down payment together via email and SMS.
- Law office: Send a retainer agreement signature and payment, send funds into a trust account.
- Payment schedule authorization: Request a customer’s esignature to authorize a recurring payment schedule.
- Medical practice: Send a HIPAA agreement, request ID card photos and a copay.
- Bulk sends: Send a settlement letter and payment request to up to 5,000 recipients in one workflow.
- Multiple signers: Send a document to multiple signers, add payment requests or other tasks with customizable workflow options.
Benefits of PDCflow for eSignatures and Payments
Many of our customers find us when they are looking for an alternative to Docusign payments, or similar esignature and payment tools.
Here are some of the top reasons customers choose PDCflow for esignatures, payments, document delivery, and other customer workflows.
Lower costs
Simply combining digital signatures, documents, and payments can reduce how much your company is paying for essential software.
PDCflow has a number of other ways to help your business save money.
- PDCflow doesn’t charge per user, so you can add the whole team without skyrocketing costs on your monthly bill.
- Email and SMS messages replace all of your paper, postage, and letter vendor costs.
- We encourage you to use our tools the way that works best. Sometimes that means integrating our features into your system of record. Integration shouldn’t cost extra—and with PDCflow, it doesn’t.
- We have longstanding relationships with many merchant service providers who offer competitive rates for your credit card and ACH processing.
Native payments
Our native payment functionality is a core part of who we are as a company—not an afterthought.
We continue to improve how it works and add features we know will directly benefit your company. PDCflow payments include:
- Customizable online payment portals
- Flexible, automated recurring payments (both employee-initiated and through customer self-serve).
- Secure digital payment requests via email and SMS
- Credit card, ACH, and cash tracking for easy reconciliation
- Merchant service provider relationships, including options for select high-risk industries
- Payment trust accounts
- QR code payment links to print on billing statements
- Automated reminders, to give recipients a second nudge without manual follow-up
- Bulk sends, so you can request payment from a list of up to 5,000 recipients in one single workflow
- Automated event notifications to ensure staff know when a message was received, opened, and completed.
Easy Integration
Take advantage of open esignature and payment APIs, developer support, and drop-in and low-code components.
We want our software to work for you, so we encourage companies to integrate our messaging and payment tools—at no cost to view or access what you need to do so.
Comprehensive Reporting
Especially for back office staff like bookkeepers, it’s much more valuable to have reporting all in one place.
Docusign payments do not include reporting, which can be problematic for companies trying to streamline work.
PDCflow’s Insights Report provides an overview of your payment performance and lets you monitor trends or sort and view information as you may need.
Customer Service and Free Training
PDCflow’s award-winning customer support makes it easy for companies to get the help they need from a source they trust.
- Fast help by phone or email—10-minute average ticket response time during business hours.
- Get free training from a PDCflow team member to help you get started.
- Access Help Center articles to find answers on your own.
Interested to see how PDCflow works? Sign up for a demo today.
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- ABOUT THE AUTHOR -
Hannah Huerta, Marketing Specialist
Hannah Huerta is a Marketing Specialist at PDCflow. She creates content for the accounts receivable and payment industry.
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