Does Your Business Really Need to Accept Credit Cards?
Contributed by Deborah Zeitler
You don't have to accept credit cards
If you're just starting a new business, you may think that you have to accept credit cards from your customers. In fact, many businesses that don't accept them manage to be very successful. Depending on the nature of your business, it may not be necessary at all. Many service businesses that deal one on one with repeat customers can get by perfectly fine with only accepting cash and personal checks.
Some reasons why you should consider accepting credit cards
Among the reasons why you should at least consider accepting credit cards from your customers, is the protection it can give you from people trying to pay you with bad checks. Most people are very honest, but it's an unfortunate reality of life that business owners need to be very careful about accepting personal checks, and do all they can to protect themselves from financial loss. When you accept a customer's credit card as payment, you can usually be very sure that eventually you'll see the payment end up in your bank account.
A business owner also needs to have his application for credit accepted
It isn't only consumers who need to have their credit card applications accepted. You also need to apply to a credit institution, so that they can ensure that you'll act responsibly with your customer's money. When you accept that card from your customer, you're entering into a contract with them and promising not to abuse the private information of theirs that they have allowed you to have.
You must keep their credit card number private so that unscrupulous people don't have access to it, and if your policy is to accept returns then you are also promising that you will refund the sale amount to their credit card in a timely manner. It is a serious responsibility being a credit card merchant, and if you don't take it seriously then you may lose the privilege.
