Three Ways to Discover Card Options that best Support your Business

Making the decision on what forms of electronic card payments (Credit Card, Interac, Gift Card, etc.) to accept in a business is an ongoing challenge. It may seem easy to make it an all-or-nothing decision to either accept electronic payments from consumers, or to decide upon a cash/checks only strategy. In reality however, the decision is much more strategic and should be considered carefully depending upon a business' method of distribution.

Internet Businesses

With any internet business, the best way to accept payments is electronically. The value of the internet business model is that the consumer essentially becomes the data-entry clerk for the product order and payment process, eliminating additional employee costs. Accepting payments through cash-on-delivery (COD) is both inefficient and creates risk, so it is preferred to get the payment for products or services simultaneously with the order. The "cash" equivalent in the internet model is by having a website with a shopping cart tied to an Automated Clearing House (ACH) Gateway, which is a method of accepting payments through direct transfers of funds from one bank account to the other. What business owners often find however is that there are delays inherent in the ACH network model, and it may take a matter of four to five days to find if funds are available in the buyer's account.

As a result, many business owners discover card transactions are a much faster and secure manner to settle transactions, and where as the cost may be a few dollars more, the benefit of verifying funds immediately and settling them directly on a nightly basis is significant. Over the internet, credit card transaction gateways are very affordable to process electronic payments. These gateways tied to a standard online shopping cart program give internet businesses anywhere from international distribution centers all the way to home based businesses the same level playing field.

Mail Order / Call Centers

In the mail order or telephone order center business (MOTO), customer service agents generally have a computer terminal at their fingertips which can process payments immediately. These systems are frequently tied directly to the order fulfillment teams, and if payments are processed efficiently, products can generally be shipped on a same-day basis. Representatives have access to the same types of payment gateways mentioned before such as ACH and card payments, and they add the extra level of support to the consumer. Since many of these MOTO products are impulse purchases (Subscriptions, discretionary luxuries, infomercial direct response, etc.), MOTO business owners generally discover card transactions are the preferred method over ACH, since the funds are authorized immediately.

Brick & Mortar Businesses

Ask any business owner how they feel about paying transaction fees for the processing of electronic payments, and you'll hear that most hate to pay the fees, and don't understand why they have to pay so much. When they consider the alternatives however, most discover card transactions are the most efficient and least risky means to collect money from customers.

The alternative of a cash-only solution for a business is often less expensive to manage on an individual transaction basis, however in aggregate it causes some major headaches. The first challenge is that consumers have clearly demonstrated their acceptance of credit cards and Interac debit cards an a preferred vehicle – They're safer to carry, create an opportunity to buy more, and many consumer behavior specialists find that buyers using "plastic" frequently spend more money per transaction than consumers spending cash. As the global economy expands, foreign travelers buying products or services at a retail location will practically always prefer to use electronic forms of payment, and with the major card brands (Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover Card, etc.) issued all over the world, a business owner must give their consumers the maximum number of choices reasonably available.

The other flaw of a cash-only policy is that business owners often find that business shrinkage is a factor, and cash in the register has a way of at times disappearing with limited accountability of tracking. Business owners discover card transactions in aggregate are much easier to track, since there's a stored electronic record of each transaction. Overall, the cost of processing electronic card transactions can be even less than processing cash transactions.

In summary, whether a business is internet based, MOTO, or has a brick & mortar location, owners discover card transactions are worthy of the investment and make greater sense in the global marketplace.