During my years in the payment technology industry, I’ve noticed that business owners don’t really evaluate their solutions on a regular basis. A lot of merchants take the “good enough” approach to payment processing, never realizing that there are better solutions out there for them and their business. I get it – the industry is very established, but that also means that a lot of the veteran providers have had no reason to innovate and bring new tools to their merchants. Plus, they’ve found new ways over the years to charge business owners exorbitant amounts of money, as I’m sure you notice each time you receive your monthly bill.
I’m happy to say, however, that all of that is beginning to change. More and more players are entering the field, bringing innovation to various aspects of payments to make life easier for small business owners. Although it might seems daunting now, it definitely pays to take a closer look at the technology you’re using to help run your business – what you find might surprise you!
Protect Yourself and Your Customers
Technology innovation is an amazing thing, but the same way it makes our lives easier, it makes life easier for criminals as well. Do you know whether or not your payment technology is EMV compliant? Does your accounting software meet industry standards? Or are you using spreadsheets to keep track of your customer’s sensitive information?
These are all important questions to answer when taking a look at your internal processes. EMV, or chip, technology was created in order to make it harder for thieves to skim card information off of credit card terminals. That countertop terminal you’ve been using since your shop opened up ten years ago probably isn’t compliant with the newest technology, making your information vulnerable to theft.
Put More Dollars Toward Your Bottom Line
Choosing up-to-date technology for your business, whether you’ve been open for years or you’re just starting out, can actually save you money in the long run. New companies are being run by a generation that is sick of being nickeled-and-dimed for services they need (or even just enjoy!), so business owners are starting to see more and more options available with reasonable, transparent pricing. This is especially true in the payments space, with subscription-style pricing gaining popularity. This type of pricing eliminates high markups and allows business owners to process as much as they want monthly, for a flat monthly subscription.
Newer businesses understand the value of transparency and fair pricing, something that veteran providers have a hard time accepting. Every single day my company runs analyses for business owners on their current processing statements, and we find that business owners are overpaying by an average of 40% to accept credit cards – which is unacceptable for businesses trying to grow their bottom line.
Improve Your Experience
If you’re still on the fence about updating your tech, consider how it might have a ripple effect across your organization. Updated technology not only protects you against fraud and saves money, but it eliminates the headaches that come along with unreliable technology. The modern business owner demands efficiency, data, and on-demand customer support – something that older providers simply don’t do well. Newer technology is often easier to learn, easier to use, and easier to track.
Although you might be able to find some veteran providers who boast dedicated service or easy setup, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a vendor that can do all of that and provide analytics on top of it all. Especially when it comes to payments, being able to track your activity in one place is a feature that the newer players understand much better than the older providers. Plus, having a better, more data driven understanding of your business is never going to go out of style!
At the end of the day, I urge you all to take a closer look at the technology you use to run your business. My expertise is in payments, but the same principles apply across a variety of the tools you use every day. Although it might seem like a lot to take on, I promise that the fraud protection, savings, and improved experience for your business will be well worth it!