Cast your mind back in time to when you were creating your business plan. Answer this question honestly: Did you spend much if any time thinking about credit card readers or which point of sale system you should choose? Now that you’re older and wiser, you may know how important it is to create the optimal payment experience for your customers. But how can you accomplish this goal and still stay within your budget?
Finding the best payment processor: The secret to your success.
Many business owners operate under a very damaging misconception. They believe that all merchant services providers nickel and dime them for every bell and whistle included in their point of sale system.
Fortunately for you, this is false. A good vendor will require you to pay certain fees — they need to make a profit too after all — but will give you several very useful tools and payment processing options as part of the package they provide you.
1. Mobile card readers.
Often for no additional charge, you can untether yourself and your staff from the cash register. With mobile readers, you can securely and affordably accept payments from anywhere, both in and out of your brick-and-mortar location. As a result, lines at the counter can be drastically reduced, staff time can be more efficiently delegated, and customers can complete their purchases more quickly. There are even solutions that transform your smartphone or tablet into a mobile point of sale (mPOS) solution.
2. International payments.
If you are already selling to foreign customers and are accepting solely the U.S. Dollar, you may well be alienating many potential customers. At little or no cost, you can take advantage of Multi-Currency Conversion to accept payments in the currencies your customers prefer to use. As a result, you may see fewer chargebacks and a bigger customer pool.
3. Recurring payments options.
The subscription model, once used primarily by gyms and magazines, is everywhere now and provides you with a highly effective way to automate your customers’ payments. Under this arrangement, you and your customer set up the billing cycle, specifying how much money is to be withdrawn from a credit card or bank account, on which date, and for how many weeks or months. Once the arrangement is in place, neither of you need to stress about late payments, and you’ll enjoy much more predictable cash flow.
4. Contactless payments.
Since the coronavirus pandemic took hold, many shopping behaviors have changed. Even now when we know that the virus is not spread primarily through touching surfaces, consumers value the perceived safety and convenience of a contactless payment experience.
A good payment services provider can provide you with card readers equipped with the same near-frequency communication (NFC) technology that is built into smartphones. This allows payment information to be securely transmitted from the digital wallet in the customer’s phone into your card reader within a matter of seconds. The entire process occurs with no contact whatsoever between devices and no exchanging of potentially contaminated cash or cards.
In today’s business world, it can often seem like everything comes at a steep cost. However, that does not need to be the case when it comes to your payment processing options. Take time to find the services provider that meets your and your customers’ needs, and you should be able to enjoy maximum benefits at minimal cost.
