When you run a business, it is very likely that you will need to know about credit card transactions. This is because most of your customers will want to pay that way. It is considered the easiest and securest way to pay because it avoids the need to carry notes and coins around with you, never having the right change, and constantly looking over your shoulder to check if someone is trying to steal your money.
As a business, you do not just need to know about credit card terminals and services available but also that many businesses with be classified differently. For instance, for businesses that are in high risk categories, it will be necessary to have a high-risk merchant account to process your credit card transactions.
Credit Card Terminals and Mobile Payment Devices
Businesses can now take credit card transactions wherever they happen to be trading from. This means that they can take their activities outside of their high street shop or out of town premises and into a field if they wish and still be able to trade.
An example of a mobile credit card payment facility is Easy Pay Direct. This has helped many businesses to gain customers and made transacting easier for both. With this system, payments can be received wherever businesses and customers are.
Credit card terminals are called point of sale (POS) terminals. Normally they will be capable of dealing with the four main credit cards, which are considered to be Via, Mastercard, American Express, and Discover. Before signing any agreement, it is always best to check with the provider of the machine exactly which credit cards are accepted.
High-Risk Merchants
Many businesses that accept credit card payments will be defined as high-risk merchants. They do not all believe that they should be considered high risk, but that is how credit card companies see them.
What will put businesses in this category might not seem like a high percentage of disputed transactions but it will be enough to put them on the credit card processing company’s list. After all, a small percentage of a lot of transactions is a good many transactions still.
Who is in Control of Credit Card Funds?
The fact is that when a business signs up to a merchant account with a credit card processor, they are giving them control over that account and all the funds involved in the credit card transactions. This should be viewed as good because this means that it is the credit card company’s responsibility to a great extent to detect any money that is being fraudulently transacted.
How Secure are Credit Card Payments?
Due to the regulations and the creation of high-risk merchant accounts that monitor assumed suspicious transactions, credit card payments are considered by many to be the securest form of payment. Physical money is, after all, at risk from theft wherever it is transported.
Although a credit card still is, there are some protections against its fraudulent use, despite how much the criminals will try to deceive companies and take the hard-earned savings of their victims.
To summarise, a business should know about mobile credit card terminals and systems such as Easy Pay Direct, which can accept payments anywhere. There is no doubt that mobile terminals are more versatile and useful to a business. Particularly those types of businesses that offer mobile services where they visit the homes of their customers or clients.
Then a business should know about high-risk merchant accounts because many businesses are ending up classified as one by credit card processors. This is due to the credit card details not being exchanged on their premises in higher cases of fraudulent transactions. As far as who is in control of the funds paid by a credit card, a business ought to know that by signing up for a merchant account, it is not them but the credit card processor that is.
Finally, with regards to security, credit card payments are thought of as secure because of the continual monitoring that is done by credit card processors to detect fraud and the regulations governing both the credit card processor and the business with the merchant account.