Understanding what type of payment processing services your business requires should not only be based on your industry, but also on your customer base. Not all businesses that accept credit cards are using the right equipment or software that increases efficiency, promotes cost effective processing programs, and provides safe and secure software. Many businesses make the mistake of having a wireless terminal or desktop terminal to accept credit cards, when the majority of their business is done over the phone.
This means that their business, regardless of industry, resides in what is known as the Card-not-Present environment.
The Card-not-Present environment, and those businesses that fall into that category are always subjected to higher processing fees based on the non-qualified card types that are put together by Visa and MasterCard. These non-qualified card types are those high spend, business, infinite or premium cards, both Visa and MasterCard that are used at your business. These types of high-end cards are both most expensive to accept as a merchant, and when mixed with being manually entered into a terminal, as it is done within Card-not-Present environments, your business is hit with even more charges and fees than if that same card was used in a Card-Present environment.
The best course of action for any business that is operating within the Card-not-Present environment is to inquire, and effectively use virtual terminal solution simply by using their laptop, desktop computer, smart phone or tablet.
Cost Effective
With a virtual terminal solution, the payment-processing provider that you work with will provide pricing based on the Card-not-Present industry. That means that pricing will be geared towards an online/eCommerce solution and you will not longer be penalized for manually entering in Credit Cards for purchases.
Your payment program will be specifically for the Card-not-Present and your rates and monthly statements will reflect that. Also, with the virtual terminal solution, there is no need for a physical terminal and you will be removing your monthly rental or lease payments from your processing program, which comes, directly out of your bottom line each month.
Users/Online Portal
With the virtual terminal solution, not only are you fully mobile, as long as you have an Internet connection on a secure network, but now you can provide multiple users for your staff and individuals that you wish to have access to the virtual terminal solution. This will provide efficiencies within your business operations as you will be able to have separated payment areas either from a laptop, desktop, tablet or smart phone. Each individual user will have the capabilities to process transactions and access the online portal to print off transactions reports - refund reports - settlement reports etc.
Easy Login
With a virtual terminal - all that is required to process your customer’s payments is the login and password to the secure URL that your payment processor has provided you upon approval of your merchant application. This means that no matter where your business is, or where you are, as long as you have access to the secure URL, you can process transactions for your business instantly and email a receipt to your customer in real time giving you freedom and mobility with your business and cost effective solutions that won't break the bank.
If your business is within the Card-not-Present environment, it is time for you to look into getting rid of your physical terminal and transforming your laptop or tablet into a virtual terminal. Processing programs designed for Card-not-Present transactions will be much more cost effective, and having multiple users on different tablets or computers around your business will create efficiencies, and streamline your business operations.
