Benefits of Accepting Credit Cards

 In the spring of 2011, when my wife and I first moved to Tacoma, we found a fantastic little hole-in-the-wall soup shop. We loved the cozy atmosphere, free samples, and exotic soup flavors. The little restaurant quickly became our favorite lunch spot, and we were often recommending the place to friends.

More than once, though, we arrived at the shop and ended up having to dine at the bakery next door instead. Why? Because the little soup shop was a cash-only establishment.

At the time my wife made cash tips at her job, and although it was very inconvenient we were usually willing to make sure we had cash on us to pay. But then my wife got a promotion and stopped making tips... and we haven't been to the soup shop in over a year.

As a customer, there are a lot of reasons why I prefer to use my credit card: my family stays on budget by using online banking, we get airline miles through our rewards card, my wallet doesn't get cluttered, and I don't have to worry about bills being lost or stolen. When I walk into a business and I don't see a Visa or Mastercard logo at their cash register, I sometimes wonder if other customers question the legitimacy of the business.

In my role as a provider of merchant services, I've also heard my clients discuss the advantages of accepting credit cards.

Here are some of the benefits of accepting credit cards for business owners.

• Convenience: No more trips to the bank, bounced checks, or waiting for billing services. Automatic batching makes sure you get payments quickly, without hassle.
• Safer and more accurate than cash: No need to worry about employee mistakes in counting change or theft from the register.
• Quicker service at the register: This is especially important in busier establishments. Swiping a card is faster than verifying cash, check, or money order, so that customers aren't unnecessarily inconvenienced by waiting in line.
• Compatibility with the internet: Accepting credit cards allows businesses to expand their markets online.
• Larger orders: It's much easier to up-sell customers when they aren't limited by the finite amounts of money in their pocket. Studies have shown that credit card transactions have 50% higher tickets on average.

As my wife and I learned from our experience at the soup shop, refusing to accept credit cards can be detrimental to business. Nowadays, accepting credit cards is like keeping the lights on – a necessary cost of doing business. Thankfully, I've mastered such a quick and easy setup that new clients are often able to accept credit cards within 48 hours of their first consultation with me.

Click here to read more about our services.