Merchant accounts: A Must Have for Any Business

Once upon a time, shops on the High Street had cash registers allowing shop owners to accept cash payments from their customers. Making cash payments was the norm and it has only relatively recently become the case that cash payments are steadily becoming less popular, with preference being given to payments made on plastic.

It wasn’t until 1966 that Barclays released the UK’s first credit card. 21 years passed until the UK saw the release of its first debit card, again from Barclays. Since then the ease of use that plastic cards bring has caused the withdrawal of cash from banks and ATMs to be less important because debit and credit cards have saved the public from what used to be a necessary chore. The fact that in 2001 over half of UK retail spending was made on plastic shows just how popular payment on plastic is and therefore highlights the importance of merchant accounts for any business.

The ability to receive payments from multiple debit and credit cards opens up a whole stream of different payment options for the customer and removes any potential obstacles a customer may have to overcome in order to make a purchase from your business. Unfortunately, I could not buy a birthday card from an independent gift shop the other day as I had no cash on me and as I needed to get a card sent my only other option was to go down the road to Clintons and pay for a card on my debit card. The independent card retailer lost a sale that I was more than willing to make because I could not pay on my card. Perhaps twenty years ago I would have always made sure I had cash on me before going shopping, but due to our reliance on plastic today it is not necessary to always have cash to hand. This is a pressing reason why any business should have a merchant account. Losing a sale because you only accept cash is no longer acceptable. McDonalds used to only accept payment by cash but even though most sales are under ?10 even they now accept card payments. Whilst to make sure you don’t lose a sale is a strong reason to have a merchant account it is by no means the only reason.

In recent years the Internet has provided retailers with a means to sell their products with further reach and exposure than seen ever before. The only way to pay for goods purchased over the Internet is by card and therefore a business without a merchant account cannot harness the power of the Internet and make online sales. If to make your products available online is the only reason then this justifies having a merchant account in itself. However, there are other benefits of merchant accounts.

Making purchases with a card rather than cash gives the customer a sense of security as there is an automatic record of the purchase. If the only payment option is cash this could be the difference between making the customer feel secure and whether you make or lose the sale.

Merchant accounts not only benefit the customer but they benefit the business owner also. With monthly statements they help to keep track of your financial records so with the benefits to business owners as well as customers with the vast amount of transactions made by card merchants accounts are a must have for any business.

Jack Goldstein is an expert in merchant services. For more information about merchant accounts visit http://www.seymourdirect.co.uk

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