Accepting credit cards and offering online transactions is the norm for almost all businesses. Merchant accounts have become a necessity for taking credit cards, processing online payments, and dealing with credit transactions. On top of these payment processing tools your business can’t do without, merchant accounts also offer other perks like fraud protection and customer service.
Credit Cards and Debit Cards
Accepting credit cards is a necessity for all businesses these days, because people simply don’t carry around as much cash as they used to. In addition, if your business has an online component (which it should), you need a safe way to take credit cards as an online payment. Merchant accounts make it safe and easy for businesses to accept payments via credit cards.
Getting a merchant account also gives you the ability to take credit card alternatives, like e-checks and debit cards. Not all customers will have credit cards. Offering other forms of electronic payment without having to resort to paper checks is a good solution when you’re a small business, since larger businesses are able to take more payment options.
Secure Transactions
When you have a merchant account, the credit cards you take go through a vetting process. The merchant account provider ensures that the card is valid, not stolen, and not expired. You can go through third party sites to vet credit cards on your own, but having a merchant account behind you is the safer way to ensure you’re only taking valid credit cards. The credit card information then goes through processing, and you get the money from the transaction typically in a day or two.
Fraud Protection
With a merchant account, you no longer have to worry about accepting bad checks–or taking paper checks at all. On top of that, merchant accounts protect you from other kinds of fraud, too. For example, a merchant account with BillPro comes with online fraud protection, including flagging suspicious transactions. Your data, and your customers’ data, won’t be compromised. In a world with so many data breaches and compromised information, security should be one of your top priorities.
Customer Satisfaction
Offer your customers a secure, fast checkout experience. Whether they’re swiping directly in your store or buying online, your customers want to spend time browsing and shopping, not going through a lot of hoops to get the things they want. Plus, customers tend to buy more when they’re using credit cards than when they use cash, so build on that statistic by accepting all credit cards.
When your customers have payment questions, your merchant account provider offers you support that helps you answer those customer questions. That way if you have a question about the process, you know where to find the answers.
Getting a merchant account is the smart thing to do for a small business. Take advantage of secure credit card transactions, the ability to accept multiple forms of payment, and fraud protection. After all, you want to give yourself every available opportunity to make a sale and keep your customers satisfied.