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Card acceptance solutions to reduce business expenses

Ways to reduce business expenses. Choosing the best card acceptance solutions.






We’ve put together a few insider tips to successfully reduce costs by offering payment options that apply to your customer preferences, average transaction amount, and average volumes.

 

Customer Satisfaction With Contactless

Customers that are interested in security and safety, especially in the world of COVID will appreciate contactless payment as an option.

Contactless payments allow customers to pay through several smart devices and wearables without any contact from another person or payment terminal. Contactless payment terminals must be chip/pin enabled and the customer’s card must have a chip, or the digital wallet must be set up and available through their smart phone or watch to successfully perform a contactless transaction.

 

The need for speed

Tap-to-pay or Contactless transactions offer the benefit of speed. If you’re in the business of fast service and/or convenience to move customers through your checkout lines faster, then offering this payment method to your customers is a must. Your business will save time, your time savings could lead you to reduce the number of cashiers, and your customer experience and satisfaction will improve.

 

Security concerns with Contactless

Tap-to-pay follows the same security as EMV Chip cards. With EMV technology, you insert the chip and information is shared with a secure code and the transaction doesn’t include cardholder’s name, security code or billing data. Fraud remains low with contactless payments.

The extra advantage of contactless over EMV is that the card never leaves the possession of the consumer which means a lower risk of leaving it in the terminal.

  • Debit Transaction & Fee-Based Savings
  • PIN debit versus signature debit
  • PIN debit transactions

The way PIN debit transactions are routed through PIN debit networks categorizes them as online transactions. There will be fees applied from the debit network and no interchange fees that you have when you use a credit card. These network fees have a lower %-based fee than interchange fees and a higher transaction-based fee. Due to the fee structure, PIN debit transactions are less expensive for businesses when their average ticket size is larger. If your business runs a lot of small ticket purchases, then PIN debit is going to be more expensive.

 

Signature debit transactions

Signature debit transactions are routed through the appropriate credit card network and not the PIN debit network where they are deemed offline transactions. You’ll have the standard interchange fees and processor fees may apply. Typically interchange fees have a higher %-based fee with a lower transaction-based fee. If your business runs a lot of small ticket purchases, signature debit transactions will be less expensive.

 

Fraud concerns for PIN debit and signature debit

Due to the required PIN number, PIN debit is safer than signature debit. It’s easier for fraud to occur with a forged signature.

 

Cash Discount Programs & Eliminating Card Processing Expenses

We can’t deny the global shift from cash payments to card payments. The fees associated with card acceptance continue to chip away at business profits. The trend will likely continue to worsen in the wake of COVID, which leaves many businesses considering cash discount or surcharge programs. As cash discount programs become more widespread and business owners see the value, there will be more and more merchants moving towards this program. Advancements in technology such as Aurora’s proprietary cash discount software, Rise Free, eliminates card processing costs with a EMV smart, secure & compliant point-of-sale terminal.

 

Daily Batch Settlement & Fee-Based Savings

Due to the interchange variations, you can be paying more if you are not batching out everyday. Daily batch settlement helps reduce higher transaction fees and charge disputes from cardholders. 

These tips are just a few things to consider for your business. Of course, making sure that your business has the best merchant services and solutions suitable for your unique needs can require a more in-depth review. Aurora is here to help with any and all of your payment technology services and solutions.