Credit Card Merchant Accounts For Small Businesses
Share: Payment methods and client account options are creative ways to grow a business and meet customer needs
. Companies that have revolutionized convenient, accessible payment methods have made fortunes. Many online-only companies, such as eBay.com and Amazon.com, have built their business plan on the back of their billing methods. Embracing the newest payment technologies has resulted in many of the successes in recent years.
Thankfully, small businesses down to the self-employed can afford scalable credit card merchant accounts to take advantage of today's technology. Let's take a look at how these payment options and account services can be leveraged into new business opportunities.
Online Opportunities
Utilizing the Internet to expand sales and offer new customer services is almost common sense today. However, setting up a reliable system is still easier said than done. An efficient credit card merchant account should accept all major credit cards as a first step. Accepting credit payments over the Internet, mobile phone, or even through mail payments opens a business to a wider audience. Linking mobile devices with credit cards can offer another avenue of payment, just as many gas stations now utilize a key fob for pay-at-the-pump convenience. With well-implemented mobile and Internet payment portals, any salesperson can execute their own sales while on the road.
Beyond accepting payment, online services can be expanded to provide customer account management tools. Allowing clients to view orders, resolve invoices, and request paperwork and receipts at any time of the day or night without the need to spend manpower is crucial. Recurring orders can be established for efficient business-to-business transactions and for supply chain management.
Point Of Sale Optimization
Even with the latest in mobile and Internet solutions, credit card merchant accounts are still put to great use for POS transactions. Adding the ability to pay by credit or debit allows a customer to always have a means to pay for their desired goods or services. Retailers can appreciate credit's convenience and ability to keep a cashier's line moving. Removing paper, as either cash or checks, from being repeatedly handled also cuts down on errors and makes bookkeeping easier.
In fact, integrating digital sales with accounting software is an often unrealized benefit. Having orders directly sorted and stored saves many hours on the accounting end. For the small business, that means more time devoted to driving their business plan forward. Larger companies can cut down on overhead by streamlining their accounting department functions. In either case, orders and invoices that are directed through an online payment portal can be integrated into automated functions with only minimal oversight necessary.
Ultimately, credit card merchant accounts are robust enough to provide a breadth of services beyond simply reading credit card numbers. Software and accounting integration, mobile services, client account management, and payment flexibility all make the investment worthwhile. These systems are not one-size-fits-all nor do they require large capital investments, they are scaled to serve a company of any size.
by: Chris Harmen
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