Don’t make the mistake of thinking that checks are completely outdated and you don’t need to worry about providing that as a payment options these days. Not having the ability to accept checks could cost you money and the goal of any business is to make money, not lose it.
Category: Online Payment Services
What Are the Benefits of a Merchant Account?
If you are starting a business, or currently own one, you need business merchant services so that you can accept debit and credit card payments from your customers.
Just a few of the ways that a merchant account helps your business are:
On the Move with Your Work? Take advantage of a Wireless Credit Card Service
There are many types of businesses that accept credit cards including on line E-commerce companies on the Internet and store front retailers as well as service companies. But what if your work takes you on the road? Contractors, repair companies and even those companies who exhibit in trade shows have a need to offer credit card processing solutions.
Will Convergence, and New Tech, Help Reduce Fraud?
The first appeared on the Small Business Trends website, and is a very useful, practical listing of “12 Tips for Merchants to Fight Credit Card Fraud at the Point of Sale.” Among the helpful pointers are the suggestion to actually compare signatures on the slip (or screen) versus the card — a practice which has fallen out of favor — and watching out for large sales, or seemingly distracted customers, rushing a purchase right at closing time.
AOL Business Article: Accepting Plastic “Outweighs the Cons”
We were struck by a long and thoughtful article recently posted on AOL Business, with the headline “Can You Afford to Run a Cash-Only Business?” The first section dealt with some of the admitted advantages from a “cash on the barrelhead” approach — every penny that comes in stays with the business, and you are also absolved from any worries about security breaches, hacks, banks raising fees, etc.
Follow-up: Senate Getting Ready to Hit “Send” on Online Sales Tax
Part of reporting financial, economic and practical news that helps your business, and illuminates the climate your business operates in, is to make sure we follow up on the “developing” trends and stories posted here. We wrote recently of the proposed online sales tax in Congress, where it seems after years of refusing to allow states to carry out such taxation in the “early days” of online commerce, it appears that the confluence of online retail being robust, mostly thriving, and clearly here-to-stay, along with the chronic budget woes of states, have combined to make a green light for such taxes likelier than ever before.
Navigating New Sales Tax Trends with AVP Solutions
As part of our ongoing efforts to keep you updated on how saying the phrase “just charge it!” is changing for your very customers, we wanted to alert you to the Marketplace Fairness Act of 2013. It specifies that states need to simplify their own tax systems, so they can collect sales tax from out-of-state merchants, who are selling to their citizens online.
Lessons of a Bookish Breach
As you may have been reading in the news this week, there’s been another breach in a merchant credit card system, this time hitting 63 Barnes & Noble outlets across the country. While the breach — and resultant damage — seem to have already been contained (since the original hack occurred in September, but wasn’t announced until now, per the wishes of FBI investigators). Customer swipe machines at various B&N’s were compromised, and sent account info to the hackers themselves, who seem to have briefly used the information for purchases throughout the fall, though those curtailed.
How Online Payment Services Can Help Your Business
Did you know that a vast majority of today’s consumers make frequent online purchases? Did you know that most consumers today would rather buy an item online than have to drive to the store, wait in line, and then bring it home? Online shopping offers a great deal of convenience in a time where convenience is increasingly hard to come by. The economy is forcing shoppers to look for lower prices, while the need to work more hours while still tending to families and other obligations reduces the amount of time that people have to go shopping. By offering online payment services, you make it easy for customers to purchase from you online while also offering your existing customers an easier way to pay their bills and manage their accounts.
