Technology and the credit card processing industry have finally given us the options that we need to process cards in all situations and environment become a credit card processor. Mobile credit card processing has been largely ignored for a couple of decades, but in the last few years it has become a more viable option.
Unfortunately, even though this type of processing was possible, the equipment required to perform this function was typically outdated, and almost always very bulky. Often, they failed to work properly, if at all, when we needed them to work the most. Business owners lost countless dollars in lost sales, even if they had done everything that they could to accept credit cards outside of their place of business.
Today, we have much better, more reliable options available to us when it comes to mobile credit card processing. Not only are there devices available that are small and lightweight – yet still full featured, but we can also accept credit cards using our mobile phones and blackberries. Often the same companies that sell terminals for mobile use will also sell software that can be used in place of a terminal, and the software can be downloaded using your mobile phones web browser.
Of course, you must consider the fees charged by your mobile phone company for processing orders. The orders are still processed through your processing company, but your phone company will charge your normal rates for connecting you to the processing company via your mobile phone. If you expect a lot of business, you want a mobile phone plan that can cover your processing needs as well.
There are two drawbacks to using phones and blackberries for mobile credit card processing. The first drawback is that your customers cannot swipe their cards. They must hand you their cards, and you must enter their information. Some customers may balk at this, since they are not sure that their information is safe if it is being transmitted over a mobile phone. The information is safe because the highest standard of encryption is used – but your customers may not trust this.
The second drawback to using mobile phones and blackberries is that depending on the capabilities of the mobile phone and the software, you may not be able to store the information for later transmission – known as store and forward. If you are in an area where you are not getting a good signal from your mobile phone service carrier, this could be a problem. You must also consider the fact that you typically cannot print out a receipt from a phone or blackberry.
With all of that said, however, in some situations, the use of mobile phones and blackberries to process credit cards is a viable solution. If it isn’t right for your business, however, there is still a wide array of options available to you for mobile credit card processing. You need to work with a company that offers a variety of options, and a sales representative that is has a great deal of knowledge concerning those options.
As a retailer or business owner, you have probably heard of all the benefits of credit card processing. Increase in sales, widens consumer market, convenience in payment processing, protection and security – these are only some of the advantages you can expect from the service. But there are always two sides of a coin, as they say.
One of the said disadvantages to credit card processing is the additional cost. The service does entail some cost, but the idea here is that the benefits would offset the cost. What you should do is make sure your establishment is ripe for the card processing. For instance, if the goods you sell are within a price range that would make sense for the service, card processing can be advantageous to your business. Take note that apart from the discount rate, you also need to pay a transaction fee. The discount rate depends on the price of your goods, while the transaction fee is fixed.
Another possible disadvantage is fraud. When you only allow cash purchases, the only fraud you have to deal with is counterfeit money-and this could be detected using the proper tools. Credit card fraud, on the other hand, is another story. Still, the possibility of credit card fraud can be derailed using the proper tools and techniques. There are various services that can help you verify transactions, in addition to the various fraud red flags that can help you detect fraudulent transactions.
A credit card processing merchant is capable of providing expert customer service and the kind of technology that services the needs of thousands of businesses in the U. S. Merchant credit card processing can provide a multitude of industries with the ability to quickly set up the most suitable options for their companies. There are specialists that seek out the lowest cost without selling or renting out the client’s information.
When soliciting these services, businesses enjoy the benefit of safely and conveniently offering card processing to consumers that make purchases in this fashion. These merchant companies save time and money by offering incentives that guarantee no risk, low cost and secure payment gateways. The familiar major cards as well as other private label cards may be processed in this manner.
There are several different types of merchant accounts available for modern business transactions. The advantage of having an Internet account allows for the opportunity to have funds deposited in a bank account through a credit card processor. This type of account differs from a regular account, because it is already approved to process transactions that are initiated from the web and provides real-time processing. Such an offering is quite attractive to the average consumer.
As a credit card processing merchant, a simple PC-based program or application is accessible that makes transactions and tracking more convenient. Outstanding invoices, sales processing and bookkeeping are easily maintained, which simplifies every aspect of business accounting tasks. The least amount of effort is required to track billing frequency, payment details and recurring charges. The special features of this program is designed for worry-free processing and record keeping.
For effective credit card processing, a payment gateway is a software application essential for transmitting the data of transactions to and from a terminal or website to a card processor. Payment gateways are usually set up with shopping carts and some providers offer free setup. A shopping cart is a requirement for most ecommerce businesses that have a large amounts of inventory to sell. The same as in a brick-and-mortar outlet, the shopping cart allows customers the opportunity to select items, check out, add taxes and shipping, plus collect the customer’s address. The last step connects the shopping cart to the payment gateway in order to process the transaction.