Accepting credit cards is a must for small businesses. Buying online is the fastest time to do your shopping. But there is only one problem – you need to have a credit card. Businesses that want to succeed in the market need to be able to take payments via credit cards. That way, they are making sure that more customers will make a purchase on their website.
This form of payment requires that you make a bank account for your business. So, you will have to decide between merchant account which is essentially a financial middleman that approves transactions and deposits the money in your bank or accepting credit cards can connect directly with your bank account without the need for a merchant account. You need to be able to accept most common credit cards – Visa and MasterCard. Doing things this way involves an application process. This is only the first step.
Now you have the account. Next thing you need is credit card processing equipment. Stripe, PayPal and Square are few of them which are popular amongst business owners. You need to search through this credit card processor and choose one which is the best choice for your type of business. These appliances will contain a card reader which is attached to a modem and which will show is the card approved or declined. You need to verify the validity of the card and the cardholder and be sure that the card is signed on the back. A credit card that has not been signed is not a valid.
If you own a website where people can buy your products, buying on it customers will do the payment which will then be processed and sent directly to your merchant account and the customer is returned to your site. This way, money is going straight to your account via online processors. You’ll have to pay transaction fees which are lower when you’re using PayPal rather than traditional merchant account providers.
You need to understand that you will have to pay a discount fees per every transaction which represent a percentage of the total purchase amount that will be charged to the retailer for processing the credit card transaction. Business owners will have to pay for every transaction that is made. Don’t be surprised if you get to pay a monthly, quarterly or annual fee.
Charging fees for accepting credit cards is only for retailers. Business owners cannot pass these fees on customers. Deciding to have this type of payment method brings you agreement to the fees that comes with the benefits of easy payments. This is what you have to pay so that you can have a luxury of paying things online or in store via credit cards.
Having a small business comes with big decisions regarding how you will handle payments. Choosing the right fit for setting payments is the safest way to get paid. Do a good research before setting up this type of payment.
Sourced from: Small Business
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