As a business, your goal is to enhance the buying experience of your customers so they keep coming back for more. The easiest way to do this is to provide more payment options. For instance, if you provide credit card payment options, you will notice a boost in sales and improvement of cash flow. These things are important in the success of any business.
To start, you should learn how to use a card payment machine for small business. Here’s a guide:
Table of Contents
Taking card payments in person
After setting up a Merchant Account, Gateway and credit card swipe machine, you should remember the following:
- Step 1: the customer will present you with their card at the terminal.
- Step 2: you need to swipe the credit card through the card reader. You must know that most readers have a small picture that shows how the magnetic strip should be put.
- Step 3: the next thing to do is input the sale information. In most cases, the machine will ask for the sales amount. With the number keypad, carefully input the amount. Do not be hasty – always double-check the amount to make sure that whatever appears on the screen is correct.
- Step 4: after, you need to press enter. However, if you accidentally pressed or inputted a wrong number, look for “delete” key or “clear” so you can start over.
- Step 5: you should wait for the processing of sale. The processing time will depend on the machine’s connection so it could be within seconds or it may take longer.
- Step 6: finally, you should process the receipt. The customer is required to sign the receipt. There will be copies – make sure to give them duplicate copy while retaining the original for your documentation.
Taking card payments online
If you are selling products online, you can still accept credit card payments. In fact, many consumers look forward to it because of the rewards from different banks and anti-fraud protection. For taking card payments online, you also need a Merchant Account, virtual credit card swipe machine, Gateway, Website and Shopping cart.
It may sound complicated but when processing credit card payments online, you should remember the following:
- Step 1: the customer will visit the site then add products to the shopping cart.
- Step 2: upon checkout, the customer is asked to enter credit card information to process the sale.
- Step 3: since there is a Gateway, it will transmit the payment information to get authority.
- Step 4: the bank will receive the transaction information and determines if there are enough funds. In a matter of seconds, it will approve or decline the payment.
- Step 5: if the transaction is approved, funds will be deposited into your bank account – usually within 2 to 3 days.
Final words
With this guide, you finally understood the process and how to do it. If you have questions, it is important that you do not hesitate to ask. This way, you can expect that your operations will run smoothly.
