subject: Merchant Accounts: Now You Can Streamline Your Payment Processing System [print this page] As a business owner, you know how time-consuming it can be to keep comprehensive records of all of your business sales. Sure, its necessary but that doesnt make it any easier.
And like most business owners, you likely have a lot of roles to fill, from bookkeeper to sales consultant to inventory manager and beyond. Accepting credit cards at your business is one simple way to help ease the burdens of business record keeping.
Purchases made by credit cards are processed through a merchant account, a system designed to facilitate credit card transactions, to act as a go-between for the merchant and the card issuer, and to keep comprehensive, up-to-the-minute records of each and every credit card transaction made through the businesses it handles.
The result: automatic record keeping that can help you significantly streamline your payment processing system.
In addition to better, more convenient and more thorough record keeping, merchant accounts also help improve your business cash flow. Business that rely on checks rather than credit cards are at a significant disadvantage. Not only can it take days for checks to clear meaning your inventory is depleted as the result of sales, but no revenue has come in to replenish stock but some checks dont clear at all, leaving you with costly bank fees and the need to pursue negligent customers, a time-consuming and often unproductive endeavor.
Cash has its own risks. Easily stolen or lost, once cash is gone, its gone forever. Credit card transactions, on the other hand, are processed right away, before the sale is finalized and before any merchandise is handed over or any services are performed. As a result, theres no worrying about when or whether a check will clear, or concerns over the safety of your cash. Theres also no need to make time-consuming bank runs, since the merchant account provider deposits the funds from credit card sales right into your business bank account automatically.
Of course, with so many roles to fill, its easy to see how the idea of choosing and using a merchant account may seem like too much effort, a task that can be easily moved to the bottom of your ever-broadening to-do list. Fortunately, theres a lot of truly useful information available today to business owners who are considering opening a merchant account, and a lot of that information is available right at your fingertips, on the worldwide web.
First, you should know that the application process has been significantly simplified during the past several years, meaning you can apply more simply and easily than ever before. In addition to printing out and mailing in your application, todays merchant account providers offer an online application procedure that can be completed within just a few moments of your valuable time.
As long as you have a business bank account and access to your business financial information, like tax records and tax ID number, you can begin the application process right from the comfort of your own home or business.
Once the application is submitted, it can take from a couple of days to about a week for final approval of your account. During the approval process, be sure to be available and check your email, in case account representatives have any questions that could otherwise result in delaying approval of your application.
In addition, the costs and fees associated with merchant accounts have also significantly decreased in recent years as competition among account providers has intensified. Many fees have been reduced, and some have been completely eliminated. Contractual terms have also been relaxed, making merchant accounts even more attractive to todays business owners.
Still not convinced? Consider some of the benefits your business might realize when it begins to accept credit cards:
Those who use credit cards spend about three times the amount per purchase as cash buyers
Credit card users tend to be repeat customers and to be more loyal than cash buyers
Credit card users shop much more frequently than customers who pay using other methods
Those who use credit cards are more likely to buy more expensive items than those who use cash or checks
Shoppers that use credit cards are much more likely to make impulse purchases than cash buyers, and those impulse purchases are much more expensive
If you intend to operate your business in part or in whole online, not accepting credit cards can mean the end of your venture: statistics show that online customers use credit cards for more than 90 percent of the purchases they make
All of the changes in merchant accounts recently have resulted in substantial benefits to you, the business owner. Lower fees, a simpler application process, and less restrictive contractual terms and requirements all boil down to one thing: if you havent explored merchant accounts recently, you really havent explored merchant accounts at all.
by: Giselle Buford
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