Convenience stores are retail businesses since they deal directly with customers. However, they are a particular form of retail store because so many transactions are done daily.
If you’re looking to scale your convenience store, you must incorporate new features. With new payment methods coming up, you can no longer rely on ancient ticketing systems to offer payments or even to make concise reports.
For the new payment methods, you need convenience store credit card processing. This is what this blog will focus on, along with other payment methods.
You can now select top options from our convenience store solutions to improve your payment selections. Whether grocery store, gas station, or restaurant, retail is a competitive business, and you need genius ways to stay ahead. Not only that, you can also simplify managing your sales, track and organize inventory, and do much more with unique management systems.
There are two payment solutions available –
The POS terminal solution for your convenience store is not the usual option you may be familiar with. They are simple but highly functional. Furthermore, the terminal offers intelligent services like employee management, inventory, ordering, and more.
Here are some of the features of the POS terminal from PaymentUSA:
Whether with debit cards or EBT, you get the best offer. However, the modern POS terminal system also accepts credit cards. This brings us to the next payment option available for convenience stores.
Another option to pick from is the credit card processing option. With a high number of customers in the US paying for items with credit cards, you can’t afford to miss out on this option. Whatever method you want to introduce, customers must be able to handle payments via credit cards.
Understanding how convenience store credit card processing works can be terrifying at first. However, you must know the basics to help you understand why this swift payment option is right for your business. Let’s start with the physical steps.
On the one hand, in a credit card transaction, there’s the customer and the issuing bank that issued the card. On the other hand, there’s you, the merchant, and the acquiring bank, who receives payment. Transaction details travel via an encrypted credit card gateway, and a payment processor is in the middle to ensure a smooth transaction.
Here’s a simple glossary:
There are two key processes for a credit card transaction at convenience stores; authorization and settlement.
The first step in convenience store credit card processing is authorization. Here, the cardholder releases their credit card information, sending the details via an encrypted gateway to the payment processor. In turn, the processor contacts the issuing bank via the card network. At the issuing bank, they confirm whether the cardholder’s account is good for payment.
The payment processor relays the decision of the request (approved or declined) to the merchant bank and the merchant’s device.
In the case of approval, the issuing bank releases the funds to the merchant bank. To cut costs, convenience stores send credit card transactions in batches to the acquiring bank for onward processing at the end of working hours.
Payment occurs via the card networks which you receive in your merchant account. There are fees that the issuing bank deducts, as well as the payment processor and merchant bank. Confirmation can take up to three working days.
While many store owners may consider the charges of using credit card processing too big, it offers benefits you can’t simply overlook. Consider the following points on why it is an excellent option.
All customers love to handle bill payments flexibly. Hence, giving them the option of paying for items later is an excellent way for customer retention. While you, as a merchant, receive payment in 72 hours max, customers can delay payments. They can also pay a percentage, one bit at a time.
With credit cards, payment is convenient for your customers. No one has to worry about carrying large cash amounts anymore to pay for goods. This will also help them to spend more since they are not paying outright. A win-win situation if you ask us.
With PaymentUSA’s impressive strategy, you can choose how to handle rewards for repeat customers. With special incentives, you can grow a loyal base of enthusiastic customers that want to carry out repeat business.
For your credit card service, there are several fees to understand. Among them, you will have to pay as a merchant. However, there are other fees that you can push to the customer for using an unconventional payment option, i.e., a credit card. One of them is the convenience fee.
The convenience fee is separate from a service fee and is the charge a merchant charges their customers for using a credit card service. They are legal in the US and must be at a flat rate. If you run an offline store, you can charge this fee.
You can quickly charge this amount to your customers by asking your payment processor for instructions.
Convenience store credit card processing can be challenging, especially for small businesses wanting to upscale. However, our executives at PaymentUSA are ready to help you through the process and set up this critical technological offer. Book a consultation session today to begin the process.
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