Accepting credit cards will be VITAL for your business.

Studies have shown that buyers who charge purchases tend to spend more. And for this reason, the financial health of your business will extensively rely on your ability to provide clients with more than one payment option that should include credit card processing.

To state the obvious, as well, possessing a merchant account also solidifies you have a serious business. Not having merchant capabilities in today’s business landscape could give prospective buyers the wrong impression – an impression a thriving business cannot afford to contend with.

Payment by credit card is convenient for the client too. So when factoring the overall benefits, a merchant account will pay for itself rather easily.

Answers to Common Questions About Merchant Services:

Will you require a credit card terminal?

This is unlikely unless you plan on doing a large-volume of local business where individuals will stand in front of you with a credit card in hand to pay for services.

Worth noting, however, is that “terminals” are decreasing in popularity, as services such as PayPal Here and Square offer point-of-sale and mobile card reading/processing services, making the old card swiping machines (commonly referred to as terminals) increasingly obsolete to nonretail businesses.

Will you accept purchases by your website only?

If yes, you could get by with using a PayPal business account as your primary merchant account.

PayPal offers the ability to create buttons, request money, and send invoices.

All very convenient for a small start-up who’s looking for a convenient connection between their website and a payment portal.

If no, a second-tier service will be necessary, such as PayPal Here for handling payments on the go where the client is standing in front of you. This could mean processing client credit cards in your home office or at a local Starbucks.

Currently, PayPal Here works with iOS, Android, and Windows devices and currently offers a competitive fee of 2.7% per transaction for US-based purchases.

Are there alternatives to using a merchant?

Oh sure, let’s not overlook old-school payment methods, such as certified and personal checks (use caution with accepting personal checks), and what we all love, cash.

I accept personal checks, but very rarely. And, I do so only with reputable prospects or clients I have an established relationship with. As added insurance, I tell prospects that I will accept a check however a check slows the project as I don’t start until payment is in hand.

The reason for the delay is to allow time for the check to be deposited and clear.

A trick I learned years ago while working in credit and collections is to perform a funds availability check.

Few people know you can legally and easily do this. 

Put simply, you call the individual’s bank and tell whomever that answers that you are “calling to verify funds availability.”

You then provide the client’s bank account number (from the face of the check) and the check amount. The bank rep will reply with either of the following: “Yes, there are funds available” or “No, there aren’t enough funds available.” 

More on Using PayPal

PayPal is simple to use, has low processing fees, and therefore has become a favorite of small businesses.

PayPal’s popularity has also helped put the service into the mainstream of purchasing, so a high number of buyers who purchase online are familiar with its use.

According to Jan Delisle of Dayton Clerical Services, “PayPal has been good for me because I don’t accept credit cards via my home with a credit card machine. I signed up, which cost nothing and posted their icon on my website. I gave them my business bank account number, bank name, and so on. Clients input a credit card number, the amount being charged, and PayPal sends me a notification and deposits the amount in my PayPal account — minus a small fee. I then have the option of forwarding the amount to my personal bank account or leaving the amount there in the PayPal account. I personally don’t mind the fee that PayPal takes.”

PayPal provides merchants with a debit card, too, which will allow you to pay for business purchases using the balance contained within your PayPal account.

This is neat too!

With PayPal’s payment solutions, a checking account could potentially end up being a thing of the past.