Increasing Card Usage at the Point of Sale

Greg Blackman/ Increasing Card Usage at the Point of Sale

One major incentive for merchants to migrate transactions from cash to cards is to reduce their cost. It is surprising how few merchants recognize the costs, time, security risk and logistics efforts of doing business in cash.

For example, transporting cash between their place of business and bank is both time consuming and a potential security risk to merchants; high levels of cash transactions also increase the risk of pilfering by the merchant’s own employees.

Counterfeit bank notes are often used at high traffic merchants where detection is considerably less than for instance at a Bank. Traditionally retailers must invest considerable time and effort in training cashiers to spot counterfeit notes however, due to high staff turnover this effort trully adds to the HIDDEN COST OF MANAGING CASH to all Merchants.

BENEFITS OF ACCEPTING CARDS

Merchants that enable cardholders to pay by card are likely to see increased transaction volumes. Accepting card payments translate that the merchant will not lose the business of customers who want to make high value purchase however, does not have the correct amount of cash on them. At the same time, EQUATED MONTHLY INSTALLMENTS [EMI] payment plan are being developed to enable cardholders to pay for high value goods on their card instead of the old fashion LAY AWAY option.

INCREASING CARD USAGE AT THE POINT OF SALE

Today’s merchant can offer and do many things to increase their electronic transactions at the point of sale.

[1] Increasing payment options for consumers- Accepting transactions on a wider range of payment channels such as WIRELESS: Is a great advantage to both Urban and Rural consumer who traditionally make cash payments.

[2] Equated Monthly Installments (EMI)- Merchants who can espand the number of cardholders to use EMI payment option are well poised to gain from an increase in large ticket purchase.

[3] Segmentation- Has had inmense success in several markets. The Youth segment, which is already comfortable using a vast range of technology stemming from mobile phones to internet, has proven to be strong preference to cards over cash when campaigns targeting debit cards use were developed.

[4] Phones- Enabling voice based payment platforms for goods ordered on the phone with a local merchant or internet with cash on delivery option are of special value for retailers who provide home delivery service {Your Favorite local Pizzeria}. Phone based payment system can enable collection of the cardholder’s details with a simple phone call instead of limiting their purchasing power to the cash available on hand to pay for the delivered goods or services. This system will also resolve cash management issues for the transportation industry as well.

Security First Merchant Services is a business-focused payment solutions company that strives to provide payment processing, small business loans, and credit repair services with a high level of detail and flexibility.