When it comes to running a small business, few things are more important than the ease with which you can accept payments. After all, people are less likely to choose your business if they have a hard time paying for their items or find that they are unable to use credit cards, debit cards or even checks. This is one of the reasons why accepting credit card payments and understanding integrated card services is such an important part of today’s business landscape. Before you get started, however, there are few common methods that credit card processing services use of which you should be aware.
Credit Card Imprinters
Credit card imprinters are probably one of the oldest and most basic ways to process a credit card payment. These machines come sometimes be seen as relics from the past but you use a machine that makes an imprint of credit cards that you can manually process after the customer leaves. Unfortunately, they offer no way to ensure that the card has enough credit to actually cover the item the customer bought. It’s probably best to choose another credit card processing method.
The credit card imprinters were the first method of credit card processing, started in the early 1900’s. Many gas companies started accepting credit card in the 1940’s are cars became more popular. Now a days, credit card imprinters are rarly used because of security reasons, you don’t want your credit card number floating around. Most store will only use a credit card imprinter if the electronic credit card machines are down or is something is wrong with the transaction.
Card Terminals
These are probably the most widespread method of accepting credit card payments out there. In order to take advantage of it, you need to first find the best credit card swiper for your business needs. This “swiper” is also known as a terminal, and it is where your clients will swipe their cards to pay. These terminals were first seem around 1979 when Visa first introduce an electronic data capturing device, or the credit card terminal. These are the most common electronic used for credit card payments and can be found in almost ever store in the world.
Mobile Devices
In addition to the above methods, tablets and smartphones can also be used to process credit card payments. This is particularly convenient as you do not need to buy a separate credit card terminal. These micro terminal were first introduced in the latter 20th century and are becoming more popular for small business.
Online Payments
This is another widely used credit card processing method that allows customers to process their own payments for online store. Customers input their information on a secure website.
If you are considering accepting credit card payments and using one of the methods above, make sure to contact a quality merchant account and payment processing service like Merchant Account Solutions! They offer a variety of services to suit your growing business’ needs.