If we learn anything from 2020, it is that life is unpredictable. The global pandemic had a major impact on the economy and consumer behavior, affecting both large and small firms. Whether it’s rearranging workspaces to make them safer for workers or redesigning websites to accommodate significant increases in e-commerce sales, most firms have learned to adapt to an ever-shifting landscape.
To assist your business, save money when accepting credit card payments by free payment processing this year and, in the future, here are my top recommendations:
Apply A Surcharge:
Avoiding credit card processing costs to free payment processing is as simple as charging your consumer for them. Merchants must abide by several regulations when it comes to surcharging customers. Debit and prepaid cards, for example, cannot be surcharged, thus your consumer can avoid the surcharge if they so choose. In addition, not all states allow surcharging, so you’ll need to do your homework, whether it’s the rigorous study or the use of specific software.
Capture More Customer Data:
Your processing fees will be significantly reduced to the free payment processing if you record the customer’s entire billing address during e-commerce and phone transactions.
Fees paid to card-issuing banks for the processing of their customers’ debit or credit cards are known as interchange fees. It would take a whole page to go into depth about the mechanics of an exchange.
Swipe Whenever Possible:
Because of the lower interchange charges, in-person transactions are less hazardous for merchants and issuing banks. Cutting costs by encouraging clients to pay in person and physically swipe or dip their card rather than pay online or over the phone will help you save money in the long run. EMV (chip) transactions are also more difficult to dispute, which means that retailers have greater protection against chargebacks.
Offer ACH Payments:
ACH payments, or electronic bank-to-bank transfers, should be offered by all merchants because they are faster and more trustworthy than paper checks. Additionally, unlike debit and credit cards, they don’t charge interchange fees leading to free payment processing, so companies can take them for less money.
Become PCI Compliant:
The PCI Data Security Standard (DSS) is a collection of guidelines created to safeguard credit card information. New merchants are often given between 60 and 90 days to become PCI compliant by their processors. Merchants are charged a monthly non-compliance fee after this period. To avoid additional fees to the level of free payment processing and to limit the risk of cyber threats, it is important to guarantee that your organization is PCI compliant. In addition, many PCI service providers offer breach protection, which functions as an insurance policy if your customers’ credit card information is exposed. This protection can be as high as $100,000.
Check Your Statements:
Reviewing your statement regularly can help you to free payment processing. Processing costs are sometimes escalating near the end of the year for a variety of reasons. Even though price changes are marked on your account, many business owners fail to notice them. Your present payment processor or a new one that better suits your business needs can be negotiated with by catching these developments.