ACCEPT CREDIT CARDS

Accept Customer Credit Cards to Maximize Profits

Think about all your past purchases in the last month or so. Of all these, how many items did you actually purchase with cash? Credit cards are a wonder of modern purchasing power, and allow people to purchase even when they may not have funds available. If your business does not accept credit cards, you could be pushing away millions of dollars each year, which consumers may have purchased at your store if they had the option to use credit.

Americans charge over $20 billion worth of goods and services annually to credit and debt cards. If you are not accepting credit cards, you are not able to profit from the staggering financial amounts that are available due to the popularity of credit cards and credit purchasing. Besides the obvious financial gain, there are other reasons that you should be accepting credit card, not just for your benefit, but for consumers as well. You will have a much more organized financial book by dealing in credit. Lessening your actual cash intake will make day end easier, as well as eliminate trips to the bank for cash deposits as frequently.

What Is A Merchant Account
When you decide to accept credit cards as a purchasing means, most likely you will need a merchant account. Simply put, merchant accounts are a business account from which funds are held from your credit card purchases, then dispersed by the banks to the merchant that hold this account. In other words this I a sort of loan account for businesses, therefore they will be underwritten the same as a loan, by checking credit, and verifying applications and so forth.

Most of the time, there are fees when you accept credit cards, and it is important that you choose the proper company, and make sure you understand all the fees and charges ahead of time, before you sign a contract locking you into the merchant account. Beware of companies that offer free services or promise no fees. It may seem to good to be true, but come your first invoice, you will notice a large misc. fees section. Steer clear from these companies, and make sure all the fees are outlined before you sign one piece of paper.

Typical fees include a fee for each transaction, and percentage of sale fee. Finding the company with the lowest fees will benefit you in the long run, keeping more money for your business. Normally, the average fees are, a 1.5% - 5% discount rate, or a percentage of sale rate. As well, there is usually a small per transaction fee, which is around 0.25 - 0.50 cents, a very small amount. This means that if you accept a $500 purchase from a credit card, you will pay out about $7.50 plus a 25-cent terminal fee, based on a 1.5 % discount rate.

Why Do I Need A Merchant Account
Merchant accounts act an intermediary between you, the merchant, and the purchaser. If it did not exist, there we would be no way of debiting funds from consumers accounts, into yours, which is the goal of everyone's business. When a purchase is initiated, fund verification takes place, then finally funds are transferred into your merchant account, and the purchase process is deemed approved for the purchaser.

If you want to be competitive in the business environment you need to accept credit cards and debit cards, it's that simple. Without giving consumers their preferred purchasing option, you are taking a chance that they want to pay with cash, when the fact is, they may not be able to purchase from you with cash, and may require credit to complete the transaction. You will see your profits rise once you begin to accept credit cards and debit cards, coupled with smart business knowledge.

Could your business use a merchant account to accept credit cards?