Accepting card payments is crucial for most, if not all, businesses. The move may seem expensive, and yes, the price has been rising over time. Nonetheless, accepting card payments remains crucial, and even more now than ever before. It will increase your sales and profits, and in the long run, these will outweigh the costs.
- Why Accept Card Payments?
There are several reasons why you should accept card payments. These include but are not limited to
It is currently the most preferred mode of payment for customers; most customers prefer to carry credit or debit cards instead of cash.
- Credit cards encourage customers to spend more
- Ideal for online sales
- It makes it easy for you to keep track of your transaction history
- It enables faster payments
- Helps minimize fraud
- Can be affordable; that will depend on your decisions
- Setting Up a Card Swipe Machine: What you need to Know about The Cost
Now that you know why you should accept card payments, setting up a credit swipe machine should be the next thing on your to-do list. The biggest challenge here for most people is the cost. Your goal is to find the most affordable POS machine cost for your system.
There are several factors you must consider when choosing your ideal credit card swiping machine to achieve this.
Let us look at some of them.
The System You Choose for Accepting Card Payments
To enable credit card payments, you can choose to either
- Open a merchant account or
- Work with a payment service provider
These two will have an impact on your overall card swipe machine price, depending on the option you choose. If you decide to work with a payment service provider, the cost will be higher, and if you open a merchant account, it will be lower.
The Hardware and Software Options you Choose
If you intend to set up in-person sales, you’ll need a credit card terminal or card reader. The ideal type will vary depending on the needs of your business. If you already have a POS system, find a card reader that will match your existing system.
To set up online sales, you’ll need to integrate your online payment system into your website. You might need to acquire the services of a payment processor or a web developer to achieve this.
The Credit Card Processing Fees
There are several types of fees you must pay to avail credit card payments in your business. These fees are generally a percentage of the total purchase amount and a small flat fee. There are also may be monthly fees.
Some other types of fees are non-negotiable and set by the credit card networks and the banks.
There are also fees set by credit card processors and may vary, depending on the processor.
All these will affect the total POS machine price.
You need to understand more about these fees to find the most affordable options for your credit card machine.
- Interchange Fees; paid to the card-issuing bank. Set by the credit card network. Vary depending on your business industry, type of credit card, type of transaction, etc
- Assessment fees; paid to the credit card network. Fixed fees.
- Processor markup Fees; paid to the payment service provider or merchant account provider for services rendered
The Pricing Models
The pricing model will also affect the card swipe machine price. There are four common types of pricing models available. these are
- Flat rate; fixed percentage of volume
- Interchange plus; determines the per-transaction cost
- Tiered; fee charge based on the card type used by the consumer
- Subscription; fixed cost
Conclusion
The list of factors that can affect the POS machine price of your system is endless. Choosing an affordable option is not easy. But you can always do it if you give yourself time and take extra care during the whole process.