Are you Willing to Accept Credit Cards or Take Cash only?

Are you a small business owner that is in the dilemma as to whether you should accept credit card payments and end up paying a hefty transaction fee? Are you also concerned that you might get duped while accepting card payments?

Well, you should stop worrying and start facilitating the usage of EMV card reader technology in your business. Card transactions are abundantly used as a mode of payments in the market, due to the efficiency and the rise of plastic money. People now days don’t prefer to carry bundles of cash while going shopping or for a business deal. It has its own risks, while on the other hand using plastic money is a bit safer according to surveys.

There is a greater chance of being duped in a cash transaction in comparison to a credit card transaction. As card transactions are traceable and cash transactions are not, this alone is an important factor that inclines people towards enforcing card payments.

As for small and medium-sized businessmen, it is advised that you prepare yourself for the change and consider accepting credit card payments, or you might suffer tremendous loss. Many come to purchase goods with their credit cards, if they get to know that your business/shop has not yet provided them with a method by which they can use their plastic money, they might not purchase anything.

The ongoing dependency of small and medium-sized businessmen on paper money will cause you to lose customers as the market is experiencing a drop in cash transactions. Merchants should consider paying ‘bank transaction fees’ even if it seems heavy on their pockets, as after doing so they will have opened up another revenue stream. Due to which those ‘transaction fees’ will be recovered within a small time frame.

A company known as SumUp has come up with a way to provide small and medium-sized business owners with their own card readers. These card readers tend to be cheaper for the merchants as it has a low transaction fee; as low as 2.65% per transaction. For more details, you can view their website https://sumup.com/

SumUp is one of Europe’s #1 fastest growing company and has made its way to the American market. They have set up an office located in Boulder, Colorado and are working towards their mission of becoming the world’s first globally accepted card brand. The company has been a massive success in Europe and parts of South America.

Types of Card Readers

Technology tends to adapt over time to decrease the chances of fraudulent efforts made by individuals. It may seem complex to understand but a merchant should be aware of these 3 basic card readers that are used in the market.

Swipe Card Reader

This is an old-fashioned card reader that works on the principle of a card being swiped through a physical terminal to initiate the transaction. The card which is used on these terminals has a metallic stripe on them.

Swipe cards may soon see a decline in their usage, as they have become outdated and are also easy to be used by fraudsters. However, swipe cards are still one of the most popular ways to make transactions and swiping terminals are a cheap buy for small and medium-sized business owners.

EMV Card Reader

It is more advanced than swipe card readers. EMV stands for “Europay Mastercard Visa”, this card is assisted with chip technology. To use this card reader, the user should have a card which is equipped with an encrypted chip. This chip stores all the required data which is needed to initiate a transaction. As this is a straight-forward payment method, all modern terminals and mobile readers accept payment through EMV technology.

SumUp is one such company that provides businesses with EMV card readers. To get your card readers now you can visit their website, https://sumup.com/

NFC Card Reader

This type of card reader enforces “contact-less” payments. NFC stands for “Near Field Communication”, It has the same level of security as that of EMV card readers. NFC transactions can take place by NFC equipped cards, Smartphones or other devices that work on the principle of “Radio Frequency Identification” (RFID).

Customers who possess NFC cards can make their payments to modern terminals and other payment processing devices which are RFID based with just a simple tap on the device. This is achieved with the help of a chip that is present on the card.

Fraud now days are only possible in a card-not-present situation such as online payments. While in cases of the card being physically present it is highly unlikely that a fraudulent effort is made.

Merchants should be aware that if you do not posses EMV of NFC card readers, you might be held responsible in the case a fraud occurs in your business. How does this work you ask?

Well, this is known as the “Liability Shift” which came to action in October 2015. Let us give you a brief of how this actually works.

The EMV Liability Shift states that “in case of an in-store counterfeit payment, the liability will shift to the party which has not yet invested in chip technology.”

If a counterfeit payment is made using a magnetic stripe card on a stripe card reader, then the liability shifts to the customer. This happens in accordance with conventional rules, but there are chances in which the merchant is held responsible for this fraud.

If a fraudulent payment is made using a chip encrypted card on a stripe card reader, then the liability shifts to the merchant. This liability shift occurs due to the fact that the merchant did not invest in chip technology that would help secure payments, but the customer did.

If a fraudulent payment is made using a chip encrypted card on a chip-based card reader, then the liability again shifts to the customer. This liability shift occurs due to the fact that the merchant did invest in chip technology.

So to prevent your business from getting harmed and facing a downfall start to accept credit cards, and make sure you invest in the latest technologies.