Although most people are accustomed to businesses that take both cash and a variety of different credit and debit cards, not all companies have chosen to open up merchant accounts. Even thought it might seem as if a failure to accept credit cards could negatively affect these companies, many business owners refuse to make the switch.
There are some advantages to not taking certain types of payments. For example, businesses that take checks often have to deal with insufficient funds and the fees that go along with them. A lot of business owners claim that they don’t want to accept credit cards because they don’t want to deal with merchant processing accounts as well.
Different business owners have different reasons for not wanting to take credit cards. Many complain about the high fees that are associated with accepting this type of payment. Others have a difficult time getting approved for merchant accounts for one reason or another, such as not being in business long enough or having a low credit score. Some also worry that accepting these payments will slow down long and busy lines. All of these things can seem like pretty good reasons not to accept credit and debit card payments, but remaining a cash-only business can harm these businesses in several ways.
First of all, a lot of people don’t carry cash in today’s society and instead rely on using their debit and credit cards. They do it for a lot of reasons: Safety, protection for their money, protection against fraudulent sales and cash back and other rewards. Regardless of why customers frequently use their cards, however, it is important to understand that many of them will head on to another business that does accept these payments instead of stopping at an ATM and withdrawing cash.
Secondly, businesses that operate solely with cash are often more likely to be seen as a target for a robbery or other type of theft. In the event that a store gets robbed, a cash-only store will often lose all of its profits for the day; luckily, this isn’t the case for those that use a lot of credit and debit transactions.
Therefore, business owners who have been operating their companies on a cash-only basis should certainly consider accepting debit and credit cards. Luckily, there are companies out there that offer affordable merchant services for jut about any business owner who wants them.