Putting An End To Archaic Payment Practices

Now that it’s the year 2014, it’s becoming a lot more comfortable to call certain trends and technologies of yesteryear “archaic”. Cell phones are a good example. Sure, some people still have them. But if you’re not using a smart phone that is fully capable of allowing you to surf the internet and watch videos, it is fair to say that you’re using outdated technology.

How about walkmans? Does anyone still walk around popping cassettes or even CDs, for that matter, into their portable music-playing devices? If you’re not using an iPod or some other brand of mp3 player, be prepared to be called someone who “lives in the stone ages”! That is not to say, of course, that we advocate teasing, here at Canadian POS Corporation. It’s just that we feel it’s important to keep up with the times.

This is especially true for merchants who still don’t accept credit and debit cards as methods of payment. For some people, the very concept of being a cash-only business is quite “archaic”. “I was shocked,” commented one of our clients last week, “I went into this store to pick up a few things and couldn’t believe they didn’t take plastic. Obviously, I had to leave to go to another store.”

A lot of people don’t carry cash on them anymore, our client reminded us. And as a result, businesses that only accept cash greatly run the risk of having to turn customers away. It’s been well-documented that Canadian shoppers are among the world’s leaders when it comes to paying with plastic. Can Canadian business owners afford to not accept credit and debit for very much longer?

ProPay Inc.’s Vice President of Marketing, Samuel Peery doesn’t think so. “We’ve found that a lot of small businesses tend to be resistant to accepting credit cards, which is surprising,” he said in an interview with Anita Campbell on Small Business Trends Radio, “The latest statistics show that accepting credit cards is the preferred method of payment for consumers, outpacing checks and cash payments.”

So if customers prefer using credit cards to pay for their purchases, why are there still business owners who are hesitant to allow for this payment option? Peery thinks that it has to do with a fear of fees. “I think small businesses are mostly resistant, because of the fees,” he admitted, “You do have to be careful about that and make sure you have a good fit. As long as you’re careful, then the fees are typically pretty minimal.”

At Canadian POS Corporation, we’re completely sympathetic towards this concern. We never hide from our clients that there is a fee associated with using our POS terminals to accept credit and debit payments. The good news is that the fees we charge are among the most affordable in our industry! Perhaps, even more importantly, the fees become more than easily paid for by the increase in sales that merchants enjoy by accepting plastic.

In our next blog, we’ll review a list of benefits outlined by Peery that will further explain why, in 2014, no merchant should be without a POS terminal. There is a lot of evidence to show that when business owners accept credit and debit cards as payment options, they increase their sales. Naturally, this leads to the making of more money! Let’s get you doing just that. Give Canadian POS Corporation a call at 1-877-748-2884.