Not too long ago, customers were averse to shopping online, fearful of security breaches and vulnerable credit card information. But those days are gone. Today’s customer embraces online payments because of its convenience, improved security technology, and exposure to a larger variety of products. But alongside the convenience of online shopping, customers also want to pay in their preferred payment method. As an online business, you need to make it easy for your customers to make a purchase. If you’ve got a website driving traffic and sales, it’s an absolute no-brainer to jump through the minor hoops necessary to set up online card payments for your website.
Here are 8 reasons to start accepting online card payments.
1. Credit Cards are the Preferred Online Payment Method
Credit cards account for over 80% of the total number of online purchases. Accepting credit cards on your website will increase your sales.
2. Secure Online Card Processing
Paying by credit card is the most secure method of payment when online shopping. This is because payments happen instantly and the funds are taken directly from your customers without delay.
3. Deliver a Better Shopping Experience
Online payments are fast. For customers who shop online for convenience, it’s a big deal to have a quick checkout using a credit card. Enabling card payments up to your website also means your store is never closed. Anyone, anywhere in the world can find your site and make a purchase at all times. Traditional operating hours don’t apply.
4. Increase Your Reach
Your website probably already attracts visitors from around the world who are interested in your products. Why make it difficult for them to do business with you? Online card payment opens your business up to customers who shop across channels, international buyers, and shoppers who simply prefer to shop online. You never miss a sale.
5. It’s Not as Costly as You Think
It’s never been easier to find services that enable online card payments at reasonable prices. However, processing fees with easy setup companies can become costly as your sales increase. For example, PayPal fees are awesome for small businesses that are putting through less than $10,000 a month. Once you’re processing more than that, your fees start taking a bigger chunk out of your sales. A better option is online credit card processing with a merchant account. Merchant account processing is specifically designed for growing businesses. You can get substantially lower rates with merchant account processing than you would with a PayPal-type company.
6. Add Credibility to Your Business
Accepting secure online card payments from a reputable company makes your website look legitimate and professional. Online credit card acceptance is more reliable for serious businesses and will increase your security cred with site visitors. Everyone knows how easy it is to set up a PayPal account and slap a PayPal checkout on your website. However, very few people realize that setting up on-site credit card processing isn’t much more difficult. Sites that only accept PayPal are now common. To stand out, you should provide your customers with multiple ways to pay. Offering other payment methods such as credit cards exposes you to more potential customers.
7. Save Time and Make Bookkeeping Simpler
Online card payment has a major advantage over cash and cheque sales – no manual work. Online card payments allow you to put away paperwork such as mailing invoices and recording payments for a digital version. Orders and receipts are digital, accessible online in one place making reconciliation easier. It helps the environment too by eliminating the use of paper. Go green!
8. Improve Your Cash Flow
Accepting online card payments doesn’t only open you up to more sales but also gets you access your money faster. Funds for online card payments typically get deposited directly to your bank account in 1-2 business days. Online card payments are traceable and processed immediately which means you don’t have to worry about unpredictable cheque processing hurdles or fraudulent orders etc. Once an online card payment is approved, the money is yours.