Do you want to know how to accept credit card payments in a safe and efficient manner? How can you get approved for traditional or high risk credit card processing without challenges? To get answers to these questions and know more about credit card payments, just read below.
Accepting Credit Card Payments
Increasingly, more and more merchants are staying away from cash-only payments. Why is cash becoming less popular? Well, it must be protected and stored. Also, cash requires regular trips to the bank. Besides, it also requires exact change and is hard to trace.
Though credit card transactions require processing fees, they’re efficient and flexible. If your business isn’t accepting plastic yet, you’re missing out on millions of dollars. By the way, one of the basic reasons why merchants keep away from accepting credit card payments is that they just don’t have a clear understanding of how they work.
So, how do they operate? On the consumer end, there’re 4 major card networks: Visa, Mastercard, Discover, and American Express. They operate on their own networks with their own fees. Some of them also issue their own cards, and others cooperate with issuing banks like Wells Fargo, Bank of America, etc. to issue credit cards on their behalf.
On the merchant side, there’re acquiring banks, acquirer, or the processor. So, by selecting a merchant services provider, merchants basically pick a processor. What happens is that when customers pay for an item using a credit/debit card, the processor or acquirer communicates with the issuing bank and card networks to approve or decline the given transaction.
In fact, merchant services allow for accepting various kinds of payments like debit cards, international payments, ACH or eChecks, mobile payments, digital wallet payments, etc.
If you’ve ever been confused about credit and debit cards, be aware that debit cards are as convenient as credit cards but operate differently. Debit cards draw funds right from checking accounts when a purchase is being made.
Credit cards allow for borrowing funds against a line of credit or the card’s credit limit. So, these cards make basic transactions, which then get reflected on the bill.
Doing Business with Customers and Accepting Payments:
Here’re the types:
- Card Present (CP): Credit/debit cards are accepted in person via a point-of-sale (POS) system, credit card terminal, or mobile card reader
- Card Not Present (CNP): Credit/debit cards are accepted remotely: online or over the phone
- Card Present and Card Not Present: Credit cards are accepted in multiple ways, e.g., when a retailer accepts them at a brick-and-mortar location and an online store.
Credit Transaction Benefits:
- Increased sales
- Ability to fight the competition in your field and avoid losing sales
- Impulse purchase or impulse buying by customers
- Improved cash flow and smooth operation
- Ability to avoid the risk of bounced checks
Potential Credit Card Transaction Risks:
- Some disadvantages and risks
- Potential for fraud, which can be costly
- Credit card processing fees
- Credit card processing chargebacks
So, as you see, there’re different ways of accepting payments, and you can opt for the one that best suits your needs:
- Merchant Account: You can accept credit card payments wherever you’d like: online, in-store, or just on the go. By the way, if you need to get easily approved for a secure and low cost merchant account, look for a reputable provider like eMerchantBroker.com to work with.
EMB specializes in the high risk space and offers exceptional payment processing and alternative lending solutions to merchants of any type and size. So, regardless of whether you need low or high risk credit card processing, eMerchantBroker.com can help you get the best for your business.
EMB has an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau (BBB) and an A rating with Card Payment Options.
- POS System: This is ideal for those who aren’t in a strong need to accept online payments.
- Mobile Payment Processor: This is perfect for those who process only a handful of credit card transactions on the go.
- Online Payment Gateway: This is fine for those who do business strictly online.
What about Payment Card Industry (PCI) compliance? It can be described as a set of security standards, thanks to which, companies know how to accept credit card payments, store or transmit credit card information in a secure environment.
To become a successful player in your industry, you need to accept credit card payments. This is also crucial to staying competitive and achieving success in the current marketplace.