Why every Business should take Card Payments.

 Can your business afford not to be taking Credit Card payments?

It is important for all businesses to take card payments. Latest studies show that Britain is moving away from taking cash at a rapid rate. A Barclaycard study reveals that one in six consumers will walk away from a purchase if they are forced to pay cash. Other research shows that the vast majority will spend more per transaction when paying by debit or credit card, as opposed to cash. Add to this the fact that there are now more than 100 million debit cards in circulation in the UK for the first time. The milestone was passed in April, 2016 the latest figures from The UK Cards Association show.

A total of 61.8 million debit cards now feature contactless technology. You can now take Credit card payments via your mobile phone via Apple Pay so you can see why the trend is increasing every month.

Think of yourself as a customer and your experiences when going into a shop or a restaurant do you pay by cash, or would you prefer to make a credit card payment or scramble around looking for your cheque book.

More and more customers now expect to pay for their purchases via a credit card when they are shopping or at a restaurant. When people pay for goods and services they expect to pay by credit card when they are online.

Over the next few blogs we will provide all the details about taking a credit card payment. Cut through the jargon and even if you already taking this form of payment provide you advice and how to lower your rates and tell you things that the banks don’t want you to know. Our first blog will look at ten reasons why it is essential that every business should be taking card payments and if you are not why you are missing out on potential revenue streams.

TEN REASONS WHY YOU NEED TO BE TAKING CREDIT CARD PAYMENTS...

1. Customers expect to be able to pay by credit card and will actively look for places that accept Credit Card Payments.
2. You receive payment at the point of sale. Usually any money received by a credit card is credited to your bank account within 3-4 working days.
3. Consumer confidence is raised if they see signs that you are taking Credit Card payments from Visa, MasterCard. Cards they have in their handbag or pockets.
4. Taking payments via card encourages people to spend particular the impulse buyer. Consumers like to complete transactions quickly without having to run around searching for a cash machine.
5. If your competitors are taking Credit card payments and you are not then you are a disadvantage and most likely losing sales and customers.
6. Accepting credit card payments has been proven to boost sales. By accepting debit and credit cards you increase your customer base considerably. The more customers you attract the more likelihood of increasing sales.
7. When a customer uses a chip & PIN card terminal and makes a payment using their card this will be a guaranteed payment for the business as the customer cannot claim they did not initiate the transaction.
8. Easier to make a sale if customers do not have enough cash on them at the time, they could make a credit card payment instead.
9. If you are an internet business or running an E-Commerce site you can’t afford not to accept credit card payments.
10. If you negotiate the right rates then accepting a credit card payment can be a done with low transaction rates. The industry is very competitive and we at New Horizon Systems can help you get a package that suits your budget.

More information about Card Payments.

Need advice or help in taking card payments or want to lower your card costs we can help. At New Horizon Systems we partner with various merchant providers so can offer preferential rates to customers. Call us for a quote on 01322 554305 and we will be able to help and advise you on how to start taking card payments.

Next Steps

So you have decided that taking payment via a credit card is essential part of your business plan in the next blog we will go through how you go about taking these payments. We will look at what a merchant number is and how to get one. If you need to take a credit card payment quickly we will look at the emergence of Izettle and PayPal and how you can take payments without a need for a merchant number.