Running a cash-only business simply isn’t realistic. If you’re going to grow your business, you need to be prepared to accept credit and debit cards. (According to a recent study by Intuit, 83% of small businesses that began accepting credit cards saw an increase in sales.) This means choosing a credit card processor. First thing first: no matter which payment processing company you choose, there’s going to be fees attached -- that’s unavoidable. It’s also not an easy task choosing the right credit card processing company. There’s a lot of information to sift through before you can make an educated decision. With that said, there are some essential features you need regardless of which provider you choose. Here’s a couple of things that you should look for in a credit card processing company. Accepts all major credit cards. There’s nothing worse than having to turn a customer away because you don’t accept their payment of choice. Instead, look for a credit card processing company that accepts all major credit and debit cards. Depending on what kind of business you run… Read more

It used to be that you’d walk into a small business and admire their iPad POS with a mix of admiration, curiosity, and awe. There’s something about an iPad POS that automatically signals “cool and forward thinking” -- and dare I even say, “trendy.” However, iPads have now become an increasingly common POS choice  -- especially for small businesses -- because they offer advantages that a traditional POS doesn’t. Here are a few reasons why an iPad POS might be the right choice for your business. They’re affordable. Unlike a traditional POS system which can cost a merchant upwards of $20,000, an iPad is much more affordable. You should be able to get set up for around $1000. If you’re a new business, this drastically reduces your startup costs. Also, iPads tend to be really durable and typically last for about 4-5 years. If you do need to replace an iPad, it will only set you back a couple of hundred dollars and you can easily pick one up through Apple or your local electronics store. They’re flexible. You’re not… Read more

There’s an old adage: just because you can, doesn’t mean you should. As a business owner, you might be considering charging your customers a credit card processing fee. Charging the customer is an easy way of offsetting your own costs in that area. However, just because you can do this doesn’t mean that you should. There are different laws, card brand agreements and consumer laws that need to be followed depending on the nature of your business and where you’re located. To help you make the right decision, here’s what you need to know about passing credit card fees onto your customer. There’s a difference between Surcharge Fees and Convenience Fees. First of all, it’s important to understand that Surcharge Fees and Convenience Fees are not one and the same. Surcharge Fees occur when you pass the processing fee onto the customer to help minimize the amount you as the merchant pays for processing credit cards. Whereas Convenience Fees are charged when you’re providing the customer with a payment option that may not have been available to them otherwise. (For… Read more

Trying to get a grasp on your monthly credit card processing bill can make you feel lost, with a bunch of hard to decipher numbers and what-the-heck-does-that-mean jargon laid out before you. As a business owner, you want to make sure that you’re not paying more than you have to for credit card processing and that your costs haven’t suddenly increased from one month to the next. This starts by having a firm grasp on your monthly credit card processing statement. Trying to decode your statement? Here’s what you need to know. Compare more than two months of statements at a time If you’re looking to examine your costs from month to month, it’s helpful that you grab more than one statement to compare side by side. Because of the nature of credit card processing, it may take more than one statement to get a clear picture of one month’s worth of charges. Effective Rate The effective rate of a credit card processing statement is the total processing fees divided by total sales volume. In other words, it’s the percentage… Read more

When it comes to credit card processing, the future really is mobile. According to a recent Juniper Research study, by 2023, mobile point of sale systems (mPOS) will account for close to a quarter of all POS transactions globally. That’s an estimated 87 BILLION transactions annually. It makes sense. From arts and crafts vendors and food services to mobile businesses that need to make payments on the go, mobile point of sale systems are the way to go. Even brick and mortar stores and traditional restaurants are adopting mPOS as a way to make their business run smoother and more efficiently. So, you’re a small business owner setting up shop and you want to accept payments on your phone and/or your tablet. Now what? Here are a few key points you need to know about mobile processing. You need to have internet availability. If your business is operating in a remote area where there’s no wifi or cellular reception (or even an indoor space where getting a signal is challenging), a mPOS isn’t going to be the best option for… Read more