Three Ways That Flexible Payment Methods Could Benefit Your SME

OlufisayoApril 23, 201501,011 views

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Today, every large retailer and high street name accepts payment by credit and debit card, and every person you meet on the high street will have some plastic in their wallet. It’s unsurprising, then, that around 70 per cent of all point-of-sales transactions are made via a card.

Despite the decline of cash as a popular payment method, however, only 64 per cent of small businesses have technology that allows them to process card payments. This means that these enterprises are missing out on a huge amount of commerce, and essentially closing their doors to the hundreds of thousands of people who prefer to pay by card than hand over hard cash.

If you’re among these relics of the old days, then here are three reasons that you might want to reconsider your stance:

Flexible Payment Methods Increase Your Customer Base

A large amount of research has been conducted into UK consumer spending habits, with a particular focus on payment methods. Of this research, multiple studies have indicated that buyers will almost always choose to use businesses that accept their preferred payment method over alternative options.

For many, this preference is for some form of plastic, with 87 per cent of consumers citing that Chip and PIN or contactless options are their number one choice. Indeed, people are so devoted to their plastic that in 2014, card spending rose even after the retail sector continued to decline. This means that simply by reviewing your payment options, you could significantly increase your customer base, and optimise the profits you could potentially make.

Flexible Payment Methods Make Accounting Easy

An added, yet often overlooked, benefit of offering the option to pay by plastic is the paper trail that these transactions create. For those who take care of their own accounting, this makes life a whole lot easier than spending time counting coins.

Everything is automatically tallied and printed for you, making your profits, and what you need to pay out, easy to discern. Even if you use a professional accountant to take care of your books on your behalf, it’s much easier to send them the receipts from card payments, which can be very easily evidenced and backed up.

Flexible Payment Methods Increase Company Profits

Perhaps the greatest benefit of offering multiple payment options is that they often herald an increase in profits. The more people there are who can buy from you, the more money you’ll make – in theory, at least. However, these are not just empty claims plucked from thin air.

Hundreds of studies have been conducted to assess how different payment methods impact customer spending. In the case of card payments, consumers tend to spend more on each transaction, which is great news for business owners like you.

Why not review your payment options today?

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