Credit Card Payment Mistakes Are Costing Your Business Money

A credit card payment processing company can be your first line of defense against credit card fraud, but it’s not the only way to go about it. In fact, according to the National Retail Federation, retail organizations lose over $20 billion annually due to credit card chargebacks alone—that’s almost 10% of all profits! Most chargebacks occur due to fraudulent purchases, and they can be prevented with the right tools and strategies from your business’ point-of-sale service provider.

1) Do you know what is going on at each stage of the payment process?

A common mistake small businesses make is not understanding how credit card payment processing works, nor are they aware of the options available to them. Every step of a credit or debit transaction—approval, authorization, capture, and settlement—requires crucial information about each specific transaction in order to move forward. So when an issue arises that could affect a payment’s acceptance or cause delays along its way through processing, you have to know what questions to ask and who you need to contact in order to resolve it. The last thing any merchant wants is customer dissatisfaction at any stage of these processes; however, it’s common enough that you should expect it. Payment service providers must anticipate problems, but there’s nothing inherently wrong with having to troubleshoot issues within certain parameters. And payment services providers definitely want merchants to be prepared by knowing their role and responsibilities along every step of the process so everyone can be confident in taking care of their customers and delivering on time —every time —and by doing so consistently. Misunderstanding how everything fits together will only lead to lost revenue. By working closely with a payment services provider you can ensure that all parties involved understand their roles and manage both their expectations and risks associated with accepting (or not accepting) electronic payments from customers.

2) Each step can introduce errors – don’t leave anything to chance!

When it comes to securing and protecting credit card payment transactions, there are several opportunities for things to go wrong. Even if you’ve never experienced a data breach or customer dispute, by now you probably know that merchants aren’t immune from those situations. What’s more, many businesses operate without sufficient security controls and don’t realize it until it’s too late. It only takes one slip-up—one software update to go wrong, one employee who accidentally enters a wrong authorization code—to expose all of your sensitive data and undermine customer trust in your business forever. All it takes is one mistake, but thankfully Payliance has your back. From verification to resolution – we’re working to make sure everything is done right. We can’t promise that problems won’t happen – but we can probably help keep them from turning into a full-blown crisis for your company.

3) If they follow every step – only then will they make a profit!

1. Never charge a customer more than what they can afford to pay. It’s simple: make sure you know their ability to pay before completing a transaction.
2. Be prepared to accept different forms of credit card payments – Not all customers carry or even own debit or credit cards, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have access to funds for purchase! In addition to other payment methods such as cash and checks, you should consider other avenues that exist in order to increase sales and stay competitive in your industry.
3. Make sure you get paid promptly – Processing times are important to keep in mind when determining how quickly you will get paid after completing a transaction. Many factors go into determining your processing time, including acquiring an account number from your customer prior to conducting a sale, verifying their identification through photo ID, etc., so make sure you are fully equipped with every detail before authorizing any transactions. This will ensure faster turnaround times on transactions because once it has been authorized by one party (your organization), there is not much left to do besides sending money back to you after receiving authorization from another party (the bank). If it takes too long for them to receive authorization from another party (the bank), then it could take weeks or months until they finally receive their money back.

Interested in learning how our payments solutions can help your company gain a competitive edge? Click here to connect with our payments experts today.