Payment processing 101: Elevate the customer experience

Consumers’ shopping expectations have changed forever – the days when small businesses could get by with accepting just cash, check and credit card payments are history. The transformation started building before the pandemic as digital-savvy shoppers began wielding their new economic clout (that is, spending money on their terms), but it has accelerated at breakneck speed ever since COVID-19 took center stage.

That means two things for small businesses:

1. Your customers want the convenience of making purchases with their preferred method of payment, not yours. In fact, most consumers consider convenience an attribute of superior customer service and 43% of all consumers said they would pay more for greater convenience.
2. Offering different ways to pay for goods and services is mission critical today to providing excellent customer service. A case in point: if all other factors were equal (price, selection and location), nearly two-thirds (63%) of consumers would switch to a new business that installed contactless payment options.

Even updating your old in-store checkout terminal can make a big difference, adds Jennifer Cunningham, Director of Sales for First American by Deluxe. “If customers have to wait in line at your counter while your old terminal connects to a dial-up modem and just runs slow, odds are likely that they’ll drop their merchandise and patronize your competitor down the street,” she says. “Updating checkout hardware can speed up the process for your customers and offer them a better experience.”

First American by Deluxe provides small businesses with modern point-of-sale (POS) systems that can integrate multiple payment methods, from online shopping carts to mobile and virtual payments and smart terminals that empower customers to swipe, insert or tap their credit card.

Of course, any change to the way you do business can be unsettling, but migrating to new payment processing technology doesn’t have to be scary. As a matter of fact, it can help you grow your business: More people will appreciate that you value their payment preferences and you’ll be able to streamline your operations because sales and inventory will be connected to accounting and payroll, which reduces the need for manual data entry and eliminates related errors that cost you both time and money.

Cunningham offers this example: “Many First American by Deluxe merchants started their businesses by accepting only cash. Months down the road, however, they discovered that it’s too much to administer and the constant bank runs took them away from their operations. Besides, there’s all this cash sitting in the register that’s just asking for something bad to happen.”

Businesses also can benefit from the accessibility, convenience and security that new digital payments afford. First American by Deluxe’s Smart PCI program protects cardholder data and your business too by offering tools to ensure that every transaction you conduct meets global security standards.

But fraud isn’t the only hazard we’ll protect you from.

“I had a First American by Deluxe merchant whose building was hit by lightning, and it blew up their POS machine,” Cunningham recalls. “We immediately provided a backup virtual terminal so that any money coming in went directly to the user’s bank account. And we also replaced the hardware the next day.”

With today’s consumers demanding more from the companies they patronize, small business owners need every competitive advantage they can harness, especially when you consider that just one bad experience will cause 32% of customers to walk away from a brand they love. Leveraging the features of new payment processing technology can play a vital role in elevating that customer experience while saving you time and money – making it as easy as possible for you to sell goods and services.