3 Options for Business Credit Card Processing

There is no denying that we live in a technological era that lends itself to creating a convenient world for the human race. Our laptops, cell phones, televisions, cars, and even our homes are smart, helping us drive, decide on restaurants, and even turn on security alarms. Smart technology means that everyone wants everything just a little bit faster and that includes shopping. Virtually every business accepts credit cards in the 21st century. If your business is still stuck in a cash-only mode, you may be losing out on sales. Processing credit cards doesn’t have to be a hassle.

As a business, you have at least three business credit card processing choices available:

Traditional Machines

If you have a brick-and-mortar shop, you can purchase a traditional credit card machine or terminal to process your customers’ credit cards. Traditional credit card machines are PCI-compliant with features including End-to-End Encryption (E2EE) and others. The PCI features in a traditional machine allow for personal information to seamlessly and securely transmit to the proper places to ensure the credit card is valid.

Mobile Processing

Mobile credit card processing gives you the ability to process a client’s credit card directly from your cell phone without the need to purchase any special equipment. Mobile credit card processing is especially helpful for merchants that sell at home parties, the latest trend to hit the home business circuit. Other places that a merchant benefits from using mobile credit card processing include festivals, craft fairs, and trade shows. Street vendors also benefit from using this type of credit card processing. Mobile credit card processing is as simple as downloading an app to your smartphone. Be sure to check reviews and do some research if you decide to go this route, as not all apps that claim to work will be reliable or safe.

Virtual Credit Card Terminals

Virtual credit card terminals work using any desktop or laptop computer that has an Internet connection. A virtual credit card terminal is a great option for merchants that work from their home office or deal with a lot of telephone or mail order sales. Virtual credit card terminals allow you to enter your transactions manually. You can even use a batch upload feature that allows you to process all of the transactions in a single file. Making use of the batch upload feature on a virtual credit card terminal not only speeds up the credit card authorization process, but also helps to prevent any double entries, an error that will double charge your customers and make them very unhappy.

These three options for business credit card processing make it impossible to come up with a reason not to accept them. Accepting credit cards from your customers will get you new customers and repeat sales. Clients like convenience and credit cards are about as convenient as you can get when shopping at festivals, via the telephone, online, or even in a brick-and-mortar store.

 

Kristen Gramigna is Chief Marketing Officer for BluePay, a credit card processing firm, and also serves on its Board of Directors. She has more than 15 years experience in the bankcard industry in direct sales, sales management and marketing.