Microsoft has launched a new feature for Teams allowing small and medium businesses (SMBs) to collect payments from within meetings.
The capability comes in the form of a Microsoft Teams app that can be downloaded and installed from within the Teams platform.
Microsoft partnered with payment firms PayPal and Stripe, as well as GoDaddy, to bring the application to the platform.
Currently in public preview, available only to US and Canada customers at present, Microsoft envisions the Teams Payments app to be used by a range of SMBs to make collecting work-related payments easier.
“Our partnership brings Stripe into one of the world's most popular collaboration platforms and will help millions of companies accelerate their online revenue growth,” said Mike Clayville, chief revenue officer at Stripe.
“With Stripe, more businesses can now accept payments as easily as launching a video conference, chat, or virtual presentation within Microsoft Teams.”
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Teams can be used for workplace meetings, but also for running virtual appointments, classes, and webinars, for example, and these can now be paid for inside Teams itself, potentially allowing for a smoother transaction experience.
“For example, a lawyer or financial advisor can collect payments for consultative appointments, a real estate instructor can do the same for license-renewal sessions, or a teacher for tutoring classes – all while the customer is engaging with them,” said Microsoft in a blog post.
SMBs looking to take advantage of the new feature will have to connect their Microsoft Teams instance to their respective PayPal, Stripe, and GoDaddy accounts.
From there, they can send payment requests to customers from within the meeting itself. Customers are able to send money via credit and debit cards, digital wallets, and more.
The Payments app also allows SMBs to track payments that have been made and those that remain outstanding from a dedicated pane inside the Teams application.
Microsoft has made the Payments app free to all users including both Teams Essentials and Microsoft 365 customers. It’s now available in the Teams Store with support for Stripe and PayPal, while the GoDaddy integration is “coming soon”.
“Small businesses continue to face many, many challenges. Whether dealing with a cash flow crunch, finding new customers, or expanding to new channels, small businesses need partners to help them solve these problems,” said Bernardo Martinez, vice president of microbusiness at PayPal.
“Our collaboration with Microsoft allows us to address a common pain point – accepting payments for virtual customer interactions – by providing them with a trusted method that both consumers and businesses know well.”
