Why Accepting Credit Cards is so important for all Merchants?

You may have read over and again that in today's time and age, accepting credit cards is important for all businesses, retail, mail/phone order and online. Perhaps no one tells you exactly why and how accepting credit cards can boost your sales. Well...that's what we are going to talk about today!



There are several collective, demographic and technical factors because of which entrepreneurs and small businesses find it impractical to disregard customers who have turned to plastic as a form of payment. Ever-increasing numbers of people are using what is known as "plastic money".



Here are the numbers. The standard American cardholder has an average of four bank credit cards. Credit card purchase volume has seen an approximate 15 percent growth per year for the last five years. Debit card purchases are growing even faster, at more than 50 percent per year. Credit and debit cards made up for 33 percent of all purchases by 2004 and for 43 percent by 2005. According to one estimate, businesses are deprived of more or less 80 percent of shopper impulse buys if they don't accept credit cards.



After going through these figures, the first question that comes to mind is why more and more people are becoming inclined towards shopping via credit cards and debit cards. Several surveys have been conducted to come up with the following answers: -

• Credit cards cancel out the necessity of carrying cash.

• A customer may want to keep the cash in hand for a more important payment or in case of impending emergencies, while a credit card may be used for a whim buy.

• They want to gain loyalty points (such as airline miles)

• Customers making a large purchase prefer a credit card.

• Consumers looking to float money in a bank account prefer to shop using a credit card.

• In making a reimbursable purchase for a company, consumers prefer to use a accredit card.



Also, accepting credit cards is key to e-commerce. While retail shoppers may pay cash or use debit cards, online shopping payment can be done only by way of credit cards or checks. Writing checks for online payments is almost redundant because of the time it takes and the bother involved in writing out and mailing a check, which may be lost, misplaced, incomplete, or damaged. An astounding 85% of online purchases are made using credit cards, while checks are used for a meager 10% of online sales.



Credit cards are also playing a greater and greater role in business-to-business transactions. The future of plastic is brilliant! Credit cards are viewed as lifestyle enhancers and they are a convenient mode of payment for even routine bills such as gas and electricity. The list of benefits, as mentioned above, further extends the use of credit cards and importance of accepting credit card payments.

For more information, visit Credit Card Processing and Merchant Account Services.