Credit card services: every business needs them… every business that wants to accept money in exchange for goods or services, anyway.
Credit card services are rendered to you as a business by a merchant service provider, a credit card company, or any other financial institution that gives your business the capability of accepting credit and debit cards as payment.
No matter which provider you choose, each one is different. Yet the similarity among them all is that you as a business owner can take payment from credit and debit cards!
Credit card companies offer these services to make it easier for you, the business owner, to be able to accept credit card payments. Some of them also provide you with your own business cards for business expenses.
They allow you to accept payments and also supply you with helpful software designed specifically for your needs! The terms are most often different with each card company, so do your sleuthing well so you get the right one for you.
You’ve seen these services before, even if you didn’t know what they were. If you’ve ever used an ATM, you’ve used a credit card service. Other services include taking wireless payments or transactions, credit card processing machines (the ones you see in stores everywhere), and the ability to access your business account online.
Usually your credit card services will include the cost of maintaining these items, but not always, so be sure to keep your detective hat on when researching different companies. And the price of maintenance most of the time will be different between large merchants and smaller businesses or companies that are home-based.
Sometimes your service will give you little “bonuses” for using their card! Examples of these bonuses are no annual fees or some sort of rewards/points program. Check with each service first to see what they will give you in return for using their card services. They aren’t always the same with every credit card service provider. And, depending on the type of business you own, you could be eligible for offers other businesses aren’t!
So, how do you get in on these deals and incentives? Easy! Apply.
You have to be approved first before you start to reap the benefits and rewards from the credit services. When you apply, you may have to share information about the type of business or its classification and possibly provide information for each person that you authorize to use the account.
Once you are approved, you will need to sign a contract with the service provider that basically says “You signed up for x, y, and z and here are the rules you agree to follow.” It’s a legal document, so be sure to check and then follow all the rules!
They should provide you with a list that shows all the terms and conditions of the contract. Sorry, you probably won’t be able to use the business card to take your family on vacation. Most credit card companies don’t allow the cards to be used for personal things.
There are plenty of ways you can get access to these services for your business. Some companies only specialize in business accounts. The bank you use right now for personal accounts may even offer merchant account services.
There are so many different kinds of merchant card services to choose from for your business!
The credit card acceptance firm (the guys who decide if you are approved) makes the card services available to you and your business after you sign a contract with them that ensures that they will process the car payments you receive.
POS (Point-of-Sale) terminals can be leased and then delivered to your business so you can use them at your cash register to accept payments with cards.
The credit card service will likely charge you fees per transaction and also a percentage of your monthly sales. The prices and price structures are different depending on which service you use.
One of the main perks of these credit services is that most of them offer services for accepting both debit and credit card payments. So your customers will be happy because of this convenience and will buy more!
We’ve all seen those cool looking gift cards with the credit card logo on them. Everyone seems to use them! Not hard to see why. People can buy them in whatever amount they choose and give them as gifts, and then their friend or family member can go buy whatever they want wherever they want.
This cool feature is now included with credit card services and encourages your customers to spend even more in your store!
There are some dishonest people out there, unfortunately, and as a business owner you need to be able to protect your precious information and also protect your customer’s information from credit card fraud and theft.
Credit card services give you the protection you need! They include many different fraud protections and hugely lower your chances of experiencing transactions with fraudulent or stolen cards. Take THAT, card thieves!
So, say you have a HUGE promotional sale coming up and you want to be able to track how well it goes. Luckily, card services give you the ability to track your sales and monitor the success of that killer sale you have planned!
Every business has peaks and valleys throughout each year. The software that they give you allows you to see exactly what is and is not working for your business. Analytics reports reveal valuable data that can be reviewed to see what sales or products are trending and which ones aren’t. What a time saver, huh?!
When you are deciding which card service to use, check a bunch!
They all offer different things and not all will work best for you and your business. Ask questions! Compare each one and request whatever information you need to help you decide which is best for you.
Happy credit card services hunting!
Be sure and talk with us here at RedFynn about our ridiculously affordable POS systems and lowest processing rates in the industry. The perks and benefits you get with a RedFynn POS system will fine tune your business.
Our proprietary technology proves it! Give us a call today at (888) 510-9871 to learn more and talk with one of our awesome, super helpful team members.
