There are over 500,000 new businesses started each month, and every new business has to address some of the same problems before they can start making money. One of those problems every business has to address is a payment gateway. How will the business accept money from their customers for their products or services?
There is a wide range of business credit card services available and payment service providers. The key is finding the payment gateway that is best for your specific business. In order to do that, you will need to ask yourself several specific questions. For example, will the majority of your business be online or in-person? Are you offering a service or a product? Will you accept credit and debit cards, just credit, or just cash?
Some small business may feel they can save money by not accepting credit cards. After all, the fees for payment processing cut into the profits of the business, and for small businesses with weak margins, every penny counts. However, research shows that debit cards are the most preferred payment method, credit cards are the second, and cash is the distant third.
Generally speaking, people do not like paying with cash, many people don’t carry cash around with them, and only accepting cash makes a business look unprofessional. If the business is more of a hobby than a business you plan to grow and expand, than only accepting cash may work for you.
However, if you want to be taken seriously and you want to be able to grow your business, you need to be able to accept both credit and debit cards as payment options. While there is some business that still carry the expectation of cash, those are growing fewer and farther between.
Being able to accept payments online through your company’s website is also an option that should be considered depending on your business. Many businesses are able to expand their online business in a way they would not be able to expand otherwise, but only with the help of online credit card payment processing.
Conducting business online requires a payment gateway with an added level of security to protect not only your interests but the personal financial information of your customers. Research shows that over 55% of data breaches are from malicious outsiders; hackers looking to purposely steal information.
Experiencing a data breach that puts your customers’ financial information at risk can seriously, possibly permanently, damage your businesses reputation and credibility. The small business category has spent over $130 billion on technology, which includes payment systems ad processing machines that allow them to safely accept payment.
Another factor to consider is if you’ll need to accept payments on the go for your business. Many in the service industry may experience this. There are several card readers and payment apps available to enable small business to accept online payments or credit card payments with their mobile device. While this isn?t necessary for many businesses, it is an option to consider.