More and more businesses have started to accept credit cards as payment for services rendered or for purchases made by customers. From food businesses to health and wellness to educational institutions and a lot more, you may use your credit cards to avail of their service and so on. One advantage of accepting credit cards as payment is that it encourages buyers to make a purchase immediately after seeing your products and items or avail of your service. It makes your sale shoot up as there are many buyers who shop impulsively and since they have a credit card at hand, they would make the purchase as soon as they see your advertisement. It also appeals to international customers as it would be less hassle for them to take care of currency disparity or take the time to send a cheque to a merchant.
There are several methods on how to accept credit cards as your payment system. You may use your own merchant account through a third-party merchant or you may also opt to accept credit card payments without your own merchant account such as using PayPal or VeriSign. PayPal is a fine way to get in full swing in accepting credit cards, though the rates are rather high but very easy and fast to set-up. VeriSign runs a competing service which has a fixed rate on a monthly basis as well as lower per-transaction charge called Payflow; this service is beneficial if you're planning on a higher bulk of transactions per month.
But if you're arranging a big company, it is wiser to have your own merchant account because the transaction fee, which is the bank fee for each sale, is lower than using a third party merchant. It also makes your business more professional to the eyes of those in the business world.
Another method on how to accept credit cards is again through a third-party merchant. There are numerous third-party merchants to choose from. Just do not miss on those who offer good deals.
If you're planning to start up a business, it is still better to accept credit cards for better sale opportunities be it locally or internationally. In addition, it is always best to be knowledgeable first about the methods on how to accept credit cardsprior to getting started.