Tag Archives: accept credit cards

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Is Not Accepting Credit Cards Hurting Your Bottom Line?

You might be worried about accepting credit cards at your business. You could have concerns surrounding how much it costs to purchase the equipment necessary for reading these cards. The fees for each transaction may also be a problem. You might not be comfortable with spending a percentage of each card transaction on handling the work.

Maybe your business is a cash-only entity by design. There are many cash-only businesses and operators, like food trucks, laundromats, and nail salons. People who provide at-home services like dog-walking or babysitting may also operate on a cash-only basis.

But you might be leaving out a significant number of customers if you don’t accept credit cards. Accepting these cards can be a worthwhile investment, as they can increase your potential to make more money and bring in more customers.

Why Aren’t You Accepting These Cards?

You could have plenty of legitimate reasons why you aren’t accepting credit card payments:

  • Your business platform might be one that doesn’t manage credit cards.
  • You might live in an area where online connections are poor. It is often tough for people in rural areas to get reliable online signals.
  • Maybe you want to simplify your accounting efforts. It is easier to review your account details through cash accounting. You’re only reviewing the cash that comes in and out of your business here.
  • You might want to wait to collect the funds you require. Credit card payments have to be held in a merchant account before you can get it ready for use elsewhere.
  • There’s also the chance you might be hesitant in accepting cards. Your business might have been around long enough to where you aren’t all that concerned about accepting credit card payments. You might figure there’s no more of a need for you to accept these cards.

These are understandable reasons, but the problem is that people want choices when paying for things. They appreciate how credit cards can help them pay for things in moments. Not accepting these cards can be a risk if you aren’t cautious enough over what you manage.

The General Risks of Not Accepting Cards

The issues that come with not accepting cards are plentiful:

  • You may develop a negative reputation among others if you don’t accept credit cards. People might not see you as being overly reliant.
  • There could be suspicion among some people surrounding your business efforts if you run a cash-only business. Many companies might fabricate their earnings for tax purposes if they don’t accept cards.
  • People are becoming more in tune with digital payment solutions. These include Apple Pay, Google Pay, and other systems that link with credit cards. Failing to accept these choices could cause you to lose customers.
  • People who earn more money are more likely to use cashless transactions. You could earn more money if you accept cards, as you’re targeting people who are more likely to afford whatever you’re selling.
  • It will be harder to issue refunds to your customers if you run a cash-only business. It is easier to provide refunds through credit card deals, as you can trace a customer’s transaction and refund it from there.
  • Customers expect businesses to be up-to-date when handling various technologies. A company that doesn’t accept credit cards might be interpreted as being behind the times and unable to process deals.

Is It Possible To Spend Less When Accepting Credit Cards?

Accepting credit cards is one of the best things you can do when running a business. By accepting these cards, you let people know that you have a full infrastructure where you can support whatever transactions people wish to manage. But you can also establish a few policies surrounding what you support when getting these cards ready for use in any case.

You can utilize a few points to help you accept credit cards while spending less than you might expect:

  • You can select the specific cards you wish to accept. You could decline to accept American Express cards if you cannot afford the higher-than-average interchange fees Amex charges. Most customers use Visa and MasterCard credit and debit cards, so sticking with those two choices will be necessary.
  • You can establish a $10 minimum on card purchases. The minimum encourages people to use cash when they aren’t buying too many things. It also reduces the risk of people trying to use counterfeit bills when handling high-value cash payments.
  • There are many small POS systems you can utilize if you aren’t willing to commit to a full-size platform. Companies like Square and Clover have various POS solutions that fit everyone’s needs.
  • You can also incorporate online-only credit card processing systems in your work. PayPal is one of the top online-only options you can incorporate in your work, especially if you do much of your business online.
  • Be sure to check the terms surrounding each credit card processing provider on the market. All parties have unique rules for operation and different rates and fee schedules. You can compare options to find a solution that fits your budget.
  • There’s an option to add a fee to your purchases to offset any interchange fees you will spend on a deal. Be sure the move is closely integrated with your orders and that you don’t charge more than necessary to cover the total.
  • You could also produce a policy where you only offer store credit if you have to give a refund to a customer. The policy can reduce the risk of chargebacks. You can use this if you have a high percentage of return at your business.

Remember that credit card payments are critical to your business’ success. Failing to accept these payments will keep you from earning more money. You could also hurt your reputation if you don’t accept these payments. But by doing your research and coming up with a plan, you’ll have an easier time accepting credit card payments without spending more than you can afford.

Parking Meters See Decline in Cash, Rise in Cards

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A recent report from the city of Los Angeles’ parking department showed that for the first time more than half of the payments made for public parking were from a debit or credit card as opposed to cash. The report shows that in March of this year, debit and credit card payments made up $2.34 million of the $4.46 million in total collected in the month. This translates into roughly 52% of revenue collected for the city through the so called “smart meters”.

Smart meters have been popping up in cities all over the country in recent years. While they still accept coins like their predecessors, they run off of solar power, authorize cards through an Internet connection, and can even send an alert to city staff if they malfunctioning. The convenience that these smart meters provide, for both consumer and municipality, is clear.

For consumers, who more and more a less likely to have cash readily available, this provides the ease of paying with their cards that they have experienced in retail stores for decades. This delivers a much more seamless experience across many normal, daily experiences.

parking-meter

For the city, a decrease in coins used means less time sending city employees from meter to meter collecting the currency. Also, according to the city, drivers are more likely to pay the $5 an hour with the swipe of a card as opposed to dropping in the coin equivalent of 20 quarters. This convenience leads to higher spending by drivers and thus more revenue for the city.

So what does this mean for you if you are a business owner? This shift by towns and cities to align with the “cashless society” means that consumer behavior to carry less and less cash on their person will probably accelerate. If your business does not currently accept credit cards or you are with a merchant services provider that does not provide you with the best, transparent pricing, there is real money walking out your front door month after month. Contact one of our payment experts today at 877-517-4678 or take a few moments to fill out our signup form to see how much money you could be saving.

Discover “On Us” Program Update

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Last fall we wrote about the new Discover “On Us” Program that allows merchants that are new to accepting Discover to defer the cost for a whole year. For many businesses the summer months are their “busy season” and as such this program could add up to great savings all summer long. The “On Us” program offered from discovered is brought to merchants through Host Merchant services. When a customer uses a Discover card at checkout, merchants will not be charged any fees or interchange rates, so all the revenue stays in the businesses pocket.

More Details

First, to qualify for the program, merchants must not have accepted Discover cards in the last six months or be entirely new to accepting the following cards: Discover, Diners Club International, BCcard, China Union Pay, JCB, and DinaCard. To enroll in the program there are just four simple steps merchants must do:

  1. Apply before the deadline of December 31, 2013 (the sooner you apply the more you’ll save)
  2. Confirm your enrollment with a special test transaction
  3. Update signage in your brick and mortal retail store and/or update your website for ecommerce merchants
  4. Provide training on how to communicate the benefits of using Discover to pay for transactions

 

Voila. Once Discover has verified that your business qualifies you will receive written notice and within 10 business days a welcome packet with free signage and tips on how to increase sales by accepting Discover.

 

Test Transaction Instructions

You can use the following instructions to see if your terminal is currently set up to accept Discover cards.

Test your terminal using these simple steps:

  • Prompt your terminal or point-of-sale device for a manual sales transaction.
  • For BCcard, JCB, China UnionPay, DinaCard, and Rupay enter the following test card information:

Test card account: 6555 9000 0015 9720*
Expiration date: 09/14
Transaction amount: $1.00
CID: 458
Zip code (if necessary): 43054

  • For Discover and Diners Club International cards, enter the following test card information:

Test card account: 6011 2023 0029 5223**
Expiration date: 07/14
Transaction amount: $1.00
CID: 045
Zip code (if necessary): 43054

  • A “decline” status means the test was successful and your terminal is ready.

 

Benefits of the Program

While on the “On Us” program, every time you accept a Discover brand card, you will not have to pay the normal interchange rates and fees thus keeping more of the money from the sale in your pocket. Your customers also get the freedom of being able to choose their favorite card and possibly earning cash rewards or points. Host Merchant Services can even provide you with Discover signage to increase awareness that your business now accept Discover cards as payment.

Next Steps

This incredible offer only lasts until December 31, 2013. Pick up the phone right now and give us a call at 877-517-4678 to talk to one of our knowledgeable payment experts or fill out our quick sign up form and someone will be in touch with you shortly. The Discover “On Us” program, a quick easy way for your business to save more on credit card processing.

Should Nonprofits Accept Donations on Credit Cards?

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Larger charities such as the American Red Cross and the American Cancer Society are easily recognizable. People like to donate to charities that have a reputation for doing meaningful work and spending their money sensibly. However, even these organizations have to seek out donations constantly to keep up and running. For smaller nonprofits and charitable causes that are just getting off the ground, seeking out donations can easily become a full time job.

Accepting credit cards for nonprofit charities is one way an organization can easily increase the volume of their donations. American society lives by their plastic, both debit and credit, so a nonprofit that is not poised to accept donations from a card is going to have a harder time procuring donations.

Some nonprofits do not accept card donations simply because they do not want to spend the small monthly price. This thinking can be somewhat backwards though. If the increase in donations is great enough, it will offset this small monthly cost. In order to accept card donations, a nonprofit has to establish a merchant account and is required to pay certain fees. The fees vary depending on the merchant account and the types of cards that will be accepted.

If the nonprofit already operates a website, accepting cards through the site is a very quick and easy way to increase donations. Many studies have shown that people spend more on their cards than they do with cash. This is true whether they are shopping for groceries or donating to a charity. By accepting cards on the website, a nonprofit will see increased donor amounts.

donations

Donate Online

If the nonprofit is a smaller organization and does not run a website, they can still accept credit cards. With a mobile card reader available for smartphones, an organization can accept cards a lot faster and easier than before. Many smaller merchants, nonprofit and otherwise, now use these readers so that they can accept cards on the go, say for example at a gala or other fundraising event.

Some organizations do indeed prefer credit cards for nonprofit donations because they generally mean larger donations. Another bonus for accepting cards is the ability of the donor to set up a recurring monthly payment. This is fantastic for a nonprofit because it means a steady, dependable stream of funds. Donors do not have to remember to send in a monthly check or cash, the money simply comes out of their account every month.

As the number of recurring donors increases, it becomes easier for the nonprofit to budget and forecast out spending. This also might allow them to increase services or programs offered to the people or cause they serve.

There are many aspects to consider when deciding if a nonprofit should or should not accept credit cards. The size of the organization, the size of the normal donation and the possibility of setting up recurring payments are all factors to consider. In addition, the operator of a nonprofit needs to research their options in regards to fees and choose the one that charges the least amount. Host Merchant Services has the lowest fixed monthly fees and uses interchange plus pricing in order to deliver the best value for your nonprofit or charity.

There are also added benefits for the donor to use their credit card to donate. If they have a card that offers rewards they can earn points while donating to a good cause. If they are near a certain reward, it is possible that they might even donate more than they would have otherwise. While this seems shallow to other charitable givers, remember that a donation is gladly received no matter what the donors underlying reasons may be.