Safely Accepting Payments From Your Customers
When you set up a small business, you generally have one thing on your mind: profit. So, it’s important that you can always take payment for your products. If individuals are unable to pay with their preferred payment method, or don’t feel that their payment with your business will be secure, they may take their business elsewhere. So, here are a few things that you can do in order to always safely accept payments from your customers!
Cash
If you are operating on a face-to-face basis, you are likely to find yourself dealing with cash payments. This a simple, and an often preferable way for small businesses to take payments in person. This is because cash doesn’t come with a charge and you get to keep the full sum that you are given.
It is also quite simple to deal with your accounts at the end of the fiscal year if you operate on a cash-only basis. However, cash does come with a risk. You need to always bear in mind that there is fraudulent cash in circulation, and while the possibility that you may receive fake notes or coins is relatively low, if you do accept fake cash, you won’t be able to deposit it into the bank or use it yourself, and you will be at a loss. To prevent this, you can find out how to detect fake money here.
Card
If you are operating online, you don’t have to worry about counterfeit money, as you simply can’t take cash payments. Instead, all of your transactions are likely to be taken by card.
This, however, comes hand in hand with its own set of potential issues. Recent years have seen a spike in online theft, where customer details have been leaked, and their identities have consequently been stolen, or their bank and card details have been used to make fraudulent purchases.
This is why you really do need to be vigilant when it comes to providing customers with secure payment methods. A simple way to achieve this is to use a secure payment gateway like BlueSnap on your online store. This gateway will remove money from the customer’s account and safely deposit the correct sum into your account. Services like this implement a secure checkout form onto your site itself, so customers never have to stray or be redirected elsewhere in order to complete their purchase!
Gift Cards
Many small businesses offer the option of gift cards. If someone is looking for a gift for a loved one but is unsure of exactly what to buy for them, they can purchase a gift card from your store, which can then be passed on and used by the recipient.
If you don’t offer gift cards yet, it’s a payment method that you should seriously consider getting involved with! Now, accepting gift cards can be a relatively long and difficult process, but not to worry. You can find out more on the subject with this concise guide.
These are the three main payment methods that the majority of customers will expect to be able to use when engaging with your small business. So make sure that you understand and offer them as soon as possible!
This is a collaborative post.
