Nowadays, customers expect to have as many payment options available to them as possible. Gone are the days when businesses only accepted cash. If you do this now, you come across as outdated, and you frustrate your customers. Plus, you will lose out on a number of customers too. With that in mind, read on to discover some useful tips to help you get started with accepting card payments at your company.
Choose a card payment provider with care
This is a contributed post. Please refer to my disclosure for more information.
The first thing you are going to need to do is look for the best card payment provider. There are many different merchant card services to choose from today. However, they are not all created equally. You need a company that is reliable and prioritises security. Take the time to do your research online and read reviews that have been left by other business owners.
Understand all of the costs that are entailed
If you are going to start taking card payments, it is going to cost you. After all, card providers need to make sure they are getting their money’s worth. Of course, you will make more money through taking payments, but you need to understand the expenses that are involved so that you can adjust your financial forecasts accordingly. Some card providers are going to charge joining fees, others will not. However, the most complicated expense is most definitely merchant services charges (MSC). They can vary from transaction to transaction, which is what makes them so complex. Nevertheless, roughly speaking, you can expect to pay around 31 each day to have a card terminal. In basic terms, the price you pay per transaction consist of the basic rate in addition to an authorisation fee and any premium charges, i.e. the cost of processing the transaction. Make sure you follow understand MSC before moving forward.
Get to know the process and whom you are dealing with
Last but not least, before your business accepts card payments you need to understand the process and whom you are dealing with. Every transaction your business accepts involves a number of different bodies, which are all going to get some form of payment from you, the merchant. This includes the card scheme, which is the brand on the card, for example MasterCard or Visa. There is also the acquirer, for example, the organisation that facilitates the transaction – like WorldPay. Finally, the card issuer, i.e. the financial institution or bank that provided the customer with the card, also receives funds.
If you follow the advice that has been presented to you, you should find it a lot easier to start accepting card payments at your business. This will help you to provide a more convenient service to your customers. You will also stop missing out on the opportunities that you may have been beforehand.
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