Why your business needs a merchant account
Why do I need a merchant account. Let’s see, total credit cards in the US: 576.4 million, total debit cards 507 million. Because there are only 350 million people in the US, hopefully you start to get the picture. Accepting credit cards can offer a whole new way to grow your business, offering a better range of payment options will increase customer base and offer greater profits. To really understand how opening a merchant account and accepting credit cards can help your business, you need to understand the advantages from a customer’s viewpoint. The following overview examines some of the benefits of cards from a common since standpoint to illustrate how invaluable accepting credit cards can be.
Credit cards give consumers the ability to determine how they will manage their finances. Unlike checks which must be paid all at one time at the point of sale, credit allows buyers to decide if they want to pay all at once or pay a little bit over time, which allows them to make larger purchases than they could reasonably afford with cash, and also helping to fit purchases into an established monthly budget.
Unlike cash, that requires consumers to carefully plan each shopping trip with no room for impulse purchases, credit cards can be used for many purposes, from last minute purchases to business trips and major expenditures.
Credit cards allow consumers the opportunity to make impulse purchases, a point I touched on briefly in the last paragraph. The ability to buy something they had not planned for on impulse is a super important reason to take credit cards, as they will have access to their true purchasing power.
If stolen or lost, credit cards can be replaced easily, with one simple phone call. Cash, if lost on the other hand is gone. In addition, many credit card companies offer valuable rewards, such as merchandise for those who use their credit cards on a regular basis. On some cards points are accrued each time a card is used, for each and every purchase. It makes since that customers want to take advantage of these very valuable incentives
Credit scores are used primarily for loan acquisition, however your credit score affects your ability to find a mortgage, and to obtain insurance, and sometimes as an employment screening tool. People are (inundated|engulfed} with emails and other messages, that acclaim the efficacy of a high and healthy credit score. These same consumers understand that the prudent use of credit cards is one of the quickest ways to amass a healthy credit score and report, meaning consumers use cards to achieve high credit scores.
Those are just a few of the great many enjoyment that cards offer to the consumers that use them. What do these advantages mean to the growth and success of your business? More ways to pay means, more profits. Consumer studies have proven that customers that use credit cards are more frequent shoppers than cash buyers, and that they tend to spend more while shopping than those who used cash. Credit card users also make unquestionably more impulse purchases, those impulse purchases are of a greater value than those made by cash buyers. In addition, credit card users also tend to buy big ticket items far more frequently than cash buyers.
Businesses can also boost their customer base by accepting credit cards. Spending studies show consumer use of card is on the rise; as it is credit cards have been shown to increase sales up to 50%, especially if you operate online, accepting credit cards is essential. As consumers reach for their credit cards as the result of the discussion above, you can expect your customer base to significantly increase. Actually, once they begin accepting, most businesses report significant gains in their customer base within the first few months. Additional studies prove that consumers place a much greater value and a greater degree of trust in businesses that accept credit cards for purchases. To these consumers, businesses that accept cards appear more trustworthy and more financially stable, and more legitimate,than those that accept only cash. Even new businesses appear more legitimate and trustworthy than established businesses when they begin accepting cards. As a footnote businesses that take credit cards qualify for merchant cash advance, in most cases a easier and faster way for businesses to obtain operating funds



