Nothing makes you feel more like an “official” business like taking card payments.
While it’s already common among large and medium sized businesses, lots of entrepreneurs with small businesses in the Caribbean still don’t accept card payments.
If you fall in that category, not only might you be losing business to competitors who accept card payments, but you might be missing out on these key benefits:
1. Makes Things Easier
Taking payments from customers is breeze when all they have to do is swipe a card or input card details.
Think about when you take cash from your customer. You need to check what they’ve given you, make sure the notes are real and then check that you’re giving them the right amount of change.
If you use a card machine to take payments, you just need to type in the cost of the transaction into the machine, and then the customer enters their PIN and the machine does the rest.
If you’re accepting card payments online, it’s a much more convenient process for your customer than the usual “click and collect” model that small online stores in the Caribbean tend to have. The “click and collect” model is where the customer orders a product online and then pays in cash when the product is delivered to them.
2. Encourages Your Customers to Spend More
The convenience of credit cards encourages impulse buying. It’s been researched that customers spend more – up to 83% more – when using their cards versus using cash.
People tend not to consider every penny they spend when they’re not seeing physical cash leaving their hands, and the rewards points on credit cards also incentivizes people to rationalize making purchases they otherwise wouldn’t.
3. Speeds Up The Payment Process
Instead of having to wait for your customer to find the right amount of change (or having to count it out yourself), your customer will be able to just use their credit card or debit card quickly and painlessly.
And the payment funds go directly into your bank account once they have been approved and checked. So, you won’t need to worry about having to actually go out and take the physical cash to deposit into your account.
4. Legitimizes Your Business
By showing what cards you accept in store (like Visa, Mastercard, Maestro and American Express), it helps to legitimize your business. Because they’re well-known and trusted brands, your new customers could be more likely to trust you, stick around and come back in the future!
5. Less Cash on Site
Because you’ll be processing payments through a card payment solution like a card machine, it means you’ll have less physical cash on site which reduces your exposure to theft and fraud.
Plus, card payments are a lot more secure than cash. They use a wide range of security features like AVS checks, CVV checks and 3D secure authentication. This help to keep you and your customers’ details safe when processing payments.