Credit cards have changed the nature of transactions worldwide. In some situations, they have more credibility than your ID. They have fueled a technology burst in the field of merchant payment processing, and they have made the creation of a debit card a necessity. In modern society, the world has become acclimated to using plastic cards for payment.
Credit cards were a great service, even when they were just paper receipts that got taken to the bank. They always gave added security to the user when traveling, and they’ve given merchants a payment processing system that was more reliable than checks. Originally, they were for larger purchases that needed an extension of credit, and they helped merchants sell larger ticket items. Today, credit cards are way more widespread, people use their cards for everyday purchases, and merchants are getting their money immediately. Since the beginning, they’ve been pushing technology on receipts and bank transfers, then on early POP tele-transfer sales. They still do now, in the age of mobile devices, when the seller can be as mobile as the buyer.
Credit cards have an added dimension of security to purchasing that today would be hard to imagine living without. Since even ten years ago, the volume of cash and checks that merchants have to process has been drastically reduced, cutting down work and making deposits much easier. For buyers, the need to carry lots of cash, or the prospect of writing a big check and waiting for acceptance, has been virtually eliminated. If a card is stolen, it can be replaced immediately, Add to that, the fact that all the major companies insure against fraudulent purchases, and, in a lot of cases, prevent them before they’re ever made. They’re also leading the charge, in both promoting and security, with online purchasing and mobile sales.
Mobile purchasing is going to change the way we shop. Mobile credit card acceptance gives smaller businesses a way to compete with their competitors on a much larger scale. It helps mobile vendors, online vendors and even those well established in a brick and mortar business. It can empower employees to take payments in the isles, at the tables, or it can even help with transactions between individuals.
With mobile acceptance, credit cards have every bit the same convenience as cash. As that technology gets more widespread, it’ll become very close to the only form of payment needed. Where once, there were physical and logistical limitations to payment processing, now the limitations are in the imagination, and those will be gone soon.