Everyone knows that interest rates, a shortage of goods in the supply chain, prices of wholesale products, personnel challenges, and many other complications have caused historic inflation for small and medium sized business owners.
Many have been searching for short term and long term ways to reduce operating costs and increase cash flow.
One of the fastest ways to retain even more profit in your business is to reduce or eliminate costly credit card processing fees.
Unfortunately, most business owners don’t believe this is an available option!
- They believe they are in a contract with their current provider.
- They believe they already pay low rates and fees.
- They believe switching will be a major hassle.
- They believe they can't actually save any money.
Luckily, new pricing options are available which have helped thousands of small businesses to avoid the rising costs of accepting credit cards.
Which option should you consider for your business?
The 3 most common ways that businesses can save on payment processing costs have varying features and benefits.
We’ve included them here - along with the benefits and drawbacks of each.
1. Move to accept cash only
Your business could avoid 100% of the fees associated with payment processing, and there is often little or no technology needed to accept cash.However, fewer consumers are carrying cash and may choose not to patronize a business that can’t or won’t accept their preferred form of payment.
Cash also has a way of being difficult to track. If employees have ‘sticky fingers’ a business owner may be losing profit without even knowing it.
2. Negotiate lower rates from your current processor
It’s possible a business could achieve savings of a few basis points lower than its current rates and fees from an existing processor. The challenge is this option doesn't eliminate the bulk of the cost.Many business owners find their rates still increase gradually over time to the original, higher pricing - and may require renegotiation every year.
3. Switch to a Dual Pricing, Cash Discount or Surcharging Model
The option that most business owners now choose to avoid the rising costs of accepting payments is to apply a small surcharge to purchases made with credit cards.
While highly beneficial to your bottom line - Visa, Mastercard, Discover and American Express have important but easy-to-follow guidelines for compliance.
How can a business seamlessly move to this pricing model while remaining compliant with card brands?
Programs such as CardChamp Zero help merchants offset expenses by including a 3.50% fee to the consumer on Visa, Mastercard, Discover and American Express Opt Blue credit card transactions - while effortlessly following card brand guidelines.
In the same way that many gas stations advertise a cash price and a credit card price, your business will also be passing along the credit card processing fees to the consumer - a practice that is becoming more commonplace as businesses look to reduce expenses and provide greater customer service.
At the end of the month, it's like having the same amount of money in your bank account as if all of your customers paid with cash!
It's important to know there are still some associated costs.
** For example: with a surcharge option, a merchant is assessed 1.25% and a $0.25 transaction fee on all debit card purchases plus a $20.00 per month platform fee. Still, most businesses find that this is considerably less than the high costs of traditional payment processing.
Step 1: Submit a copy of your most recent merchant processing statement with a CardChamp advisor. (1 minute)
Understanding how much card volume your business processes monthly - as well as how much your current processor deducts for fees - will help determine the amount of savings that you will enjoy.
(Ex: If your business processed $100,000 in volume and your current processor deducted $3,500 last month - your effective rate is 3.5%.)
Step 2: Complete our simple and secure digital application. (15 minutes)
Just provide us with some important information about your business. The application will securely and automatically be reviewed by our team and the approval process takes approximately 15 minutes.
Step 3: Connect your new equipment and begin processing. (5 minutes)
Once your application is approved, our team will provide a quick and thorough training session, discuss PCI compliance, and answer any remaining questions you may have regarding the processing solution or equipment.
There you have it! - 3 Easy Steps to Avoid the Rising Costs of Accepting Credit Cards.
CardChamp Zero helps any business reduce or eliminate credit card processing fees easily and with zero hassle.
