It’s almost a foregone conclusion that a business will need a payment solution. It’s especially true for high-volume retailers, those merchants who process hundreds or thousands (or perhaps hundreds of thousands) of transactions each and every month.
Just because you need a solution, however, doesn’t mean it’s easy to find one. Use this handy guide to understand your payment solution options.
What Are Payment Solutions?
First things first: Just what is a payment solution? Chances are you already know. You’re probably considering adopting a solution, or perhaps you already have one in place. You might be wondering how you can accept credit and debit card payments, or maybe you want to accept payments in your new online store.
A payment solution allows you to accept payment methods other than cash. The most popular methods are credit and debit card payments, but there are many other options on the market today.
Every merchant, including high-volume retailers, will need to select the solutions that work for their unique businesses. Often, you need to know your customers and how they prefer to pay.
Credit and Debit Cards
Most customers prefer to pay via card; the number of credit and debit transactions per year keeps climbing. High-volume retailers will likely find it advantageous to offer these types of payments, so they need a solution that lets them accept card payments.
While accepting card payments is often the easy part, you’ve probably heard about some pretty nasty snags—high fees and chargebacks can strike fear into any merchant’s heart. Look for a solution provider that offers protection from chargebacks and is willing to negotiate on the fees. You can almost always find a better solution.
Pay-Later Options
Another payment solution option that’s becoming more popular is the pay-later option. Unlike more traditional payment solutions, the customer elects to pay later, such as when an invoice arrives. Sometimes, payment is due after the customer received the service or product.
The big advantage of pay-later options is they encourage customers to complete their transactions, especially online. They also encourage customers to buy more.
Multiple Currencies
Another option for high-volume retailers is accepting multiple currencies, especially in their online shops.
This can encourage customers from around the world to shop with you, rather than your competition. The option to pay in their home currency almost always wins out over paying hefty exchange fees.
Mobile Solutions
Do you have sales reps in the field? Or do you have service people moving from location to location? If so, you need to consider mobile payment solutions. With these solutions, a smartphone or tablet can be turned into a portable payment terminal, allowing you to accept payment anytime, anywhere.
Security
While you have plenty of options when it comes to picking a payment solution that fits your business, you also need to think about things like security. What would happen if a hacker tried to steal your customers’ credit card information? How are you protected?
Security is especially important for high-volume retailers. High-volume retailers tend to process many transactions of relatively low value from a large number of customers. More customers translates into more data, so a breach puts more people in jeopardy. You need to know how your provider is keeping you and your customers safe.
Ease of Doing Business
While you need to consider options when it comes to payment solutions, you also want a solutions provider that is going to work with you. How easy is it to read your bill every month? Are all your terms and fees laid out in crystal-clear wording in your contract? What are the penalties for breaking your contract?
All this and more must be considered when you shop for payment solutions as a high-volume retailer.
