Handling payment is one of the biggest challenges for small and medium enterprises. I hear daily from small businesses owners, both buyers and sellers, that they see payment processing as a cumbersome - if not difficult - task. Besides the risk of not being paid, or the products not being delivered, it is also tiresome to use the traditional methods for small, frequent payments. Time is precious for small entrepreneurs, but payment issues, processing payments and being able to get paid in a timely manner is no less important to them.

This is especially true for online businesses and when dealing with importers or exporters located overseas. Cash payment is not an option, credit cards are not accepted in some instances, and not everyone is comfortable enough to reveal his or her bank account information online. Additionally, driving to the bank for every small transaction or taking the letter of credit route involves a tedious and time-consuming process of documentation, and for buying/selling a few samples these are also not viable solutions for the time-deprived business owners. So, a better alternative is what we all need.

Now, Tradeindia.com, along with PayPal, the global payments platform, has come up with an easy-to-use and affordable solution for small businesses. How does it work? It is very simple: Our partners can click on this link http://paypal.com/in/tradeindia and set up their PayPal account in a few simple steps. There are a host of easy to use tools which you can use to integrate PayPal on your websites. Don't have a website? No worries, you can accept payments through PayPal even without a website.

Is this payment mechanism safe for buyers and sellers? PayPal gives people better ways to connect to their money and to each other, helping them send money without sharing financial information. With 165 million active customer accounts, PayPal has created an open and secure payments ecosystem people and businesses choose to securely transact with each other online, in stores and on mobile devices. In addition, PayPal provides support to buyers and sellers with the buyer and seller protections. If the buyer does not receive the products, or products received appear significantly different than it was described, the buyer could log in to their account and file a dispute claim through the PayPal Resolution Centre to get refunded for eligible purchases. Similarly, a seller can file for dispute claims via the online PayPal Resolution Center if he or she thinks that the buyer is making a false claim or requesting charge-back for unauthorized transactions. Thus, both buyers and sellers do not lose out, provided they fulfill the requirements for eligible transactions.

PayPal is a truly global payments platform that is available to people in 203 markets, and tradeindia.com has tied up with PayPal to bring the benefits to Indian businesses so that they can deal with buyers or sellers with trust and confidence. Currently, PayPal in India can only be used for cross-border trade. I invite you all to create a PayPal account free of cost for your organization or connect with our team to help you create one at the earliest.

I invite your feedback about using PayPal and other means of payments you use for international trade which are secure and trustworthy.