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Hassle-free Payment Options in OTT: Ways to iron out frictions in payments

Online payments have always been a sensitive matter, especially with the growing number of fraudulent transactions taking place on the internet every day. How then do you ensure a safe and hassle-free payment option for your OTT customers?

It’s important to integrate the most popular payment methods onto your platform. You wouldn’t want to lose out on a customer just because you did not have his or her preferred method of payment as an option.

In addition to the popular methods of payment, it’s crucial to integrate with your system wallets and cashback offers. Users are always looking for ways to save money and cashback offers and wallet discounts go a long way in ensuring customer loyalty.

Most Commonly Used Payment Options in OTT

While different OTT platforms offer different payment options to their users, there are certain methods of payment that are used commonly across all platforms.

Credit Cards/Debit cards

Credit cards and debit cards are probably the most commonly used mode of payment, online as well as offline. With just the requirement of entering the card details online, it is a convenient method of payment for the users.

Platforms have made it even more convenient to make payments through cards by remembering the card details for recurring payments where the user need only enter the CVV and the OTP to complete the transaction.

Net Banking

Net banking is the method of payment where a user directly pays from his or her bank account by logging into their banking portal. This method has been around for quite some time and is commonly used across OTT platforms.

Net banking is not usually preferred by people who have security concerns about logging into their banking portals through third-party platforms.

Hassle-free Payment Options in OTTPaypal

Paypal is especially helpful as a payment method in cases where cross-currency transactions are involved. With support available for multiple currencies online, Paypal provides a seamless experience for international payments.

Money can be added to a Paypal account directly from the bank account or using a credit card. In a way, this method involves an additional step of first logging onto the Paypal platform and selecting a payment method from within Paypal.


Payments via wallets have gained popularity in recent years due to the convenience they provide as well as cashback offers. Users are always looking for a good bargain and always prefer promotions in the form of rewards and incentives.

Wallets are a convenient method of payment wherein money is preloaded in these wallets and can be easily deducted when required by simply entering an OTP or password. A report by Statista states that the volume of mobile wallet transactions in India is expected to reach about 260 billion by 2022, as opposed to 600 million in 2016.

Digital Payments on OTT Platforms

Concerns Around Digital Payments on OTT Platforms

While there are various payment options available for online payments on OTT platforms, they are plagued by various concerns that need to be addressed.

Lack of incentives

Certain payment methods like wallets do offer incentives for online payments. Certain other methods like credit cards provide EMI offers and discounts as well. But they are not enough to motivate users for online payments.

If seamless payment integration is to be made for OTT platforms, the need of the hour is giving the users greater incentives to ensure their loyalty and a continued subscription.

High Failure Rates

One of the biggest challenges that users face when making payments on OTT platforms is high failure rates. Often, when transactions fail, money is deducted from bank accounts and it takes a while before the transaction is reversed.

As a result, users are left with the tedious task of coordinating with their bank representatives for days before their deducted payment is credited back into their accounts. Users are also wary of re-trying payments once they’ve already experienced a failed transaction.


You may have frequently heard the news of cyber frauds. Phishing attacks are extremely common on the internet and often result in fraudulent transactions. In addition, theft of card details and sim card cloning, reading to OTP generation and unauthorized transactions are on the rise.

Without adequate security measures in place, users shy away from making online payments even if they really want to engage with the OTT platform, resulting in lost sales.

Grievance Redressal Portals

A lot of major companies lack a proper portal for grievance redressals. Sometimes, when payments are deducted, they’re stuck at the bank’s end. But in many cases, the payments are processed by the banks but end up not reflecting at the OTT service provider’s end.

Companies must pay special attention to this issue and have a mechanism in place to address the grievances of their users who trust them and pay them on a regular basis.

Ways To Iron Out Friction In Payments

OTT companies can take various steps to iron out friction in payments as much as possible.

  • Have a grievance redressal portal in place to resolve customer complaints
  • Have a standardized interface that’s easy to use
  • Increased accountability to gain the trust of users
  • Provide multiple payment options, especially the most commonly used ones
  • Have a standardized billing process in place
  • Work on improving awareness and literacy in regards to digital payments
  • Remove or minimize additional fees in the form of convenience charges

In Conclusion

Online payments involve various risks associated with them. It’s important to get your users to adopt and adapt in order to sustain your business and encourage them to subscribe to your platform.

Apart from security issues, there are a lot of other hassles that must be addressed and resolved if you’re looking at increasing your customer base and making revenue from them. It’s important that you take steps in the right direction to iron out all sorts of friction that your users might encounter while making payments on your platform.