5 Reasons It Is Important to Upgrade Your Payment Terminal
Jan 21, 2020
We’ve all heard the phrase, “if it’s not broken, don’t fix it” but that mentality can discourage growth for your business. Even if your terminal system has worked for years, you can likely benefit from new and innovative technologies in the industry.
The last year has brought some amazing advancements to the work of payments and if your terminal is out of date you are at a heightened risk of a data breach and falling behind on features that customers really need. Here are the top reasons to update your payment terminals!
Technology has rapidly evolved – now payment processing is too
You’re Behind the Times
You Can’t Connect
Terminals nowadays are light years ahead of the magstripe devices we used to rely on but many businesses still suffer heavily when their terminal connection goes down.
Without working terminals, you can lose out on high sales volume at unexpected times. Imagine losing connection on the Saturday before Christmas? Missing that day alone could crush a small business.
Solution: many terminals now have cellular data functionality. This option can be used as the primary connection or just when your wifi is down. Virtual terminals are also great, not only to accept payments online, but also to use as a backup!
You can’t Accept all Cards
It is extremely frustrating for a customer to get to the checkout and see, “We don’t accept…” This can lose you an immediate sale or deter a customer from returning. Frankly, having a debit card machine just doesn’t cut it anymore. Customers automatically expect to be able to pay with cash, debit, or common credit cards; and any limiting of these options leaves a negative impression and could result in lost sales.
It’s a small world these days and international travel is commonplace. It is a competitive advantage to accept more payment types and be able to serve all types of customers. You will earn bonus points from customers when you accept:
- American Express
- China Union Pay (CUP)
- Alipay and WeChat
It is important to note that there is not always an added cost to accept more card types and in fact, some of these card types can be cheaper than the common Card Brands. For example, a study by Intuit showed that 83% of small businesses surveyed saw a sales increase between $1,000 – $20,000 once they accepted credit cards.
You’re Too Slow
No Time to Wait in Line
Even if your system is operating perfectly, checkout time can be long for customers. A line can deter people from purchasing from you, so you need to keep that line moving quickly and the transactions flowing seamlessly.
Tap and Go
A lot of people these days run out the door with just their cell phone, which has led to the rapidly growing popularity of mobile payments like Apple Pay. NFC (near field communication) or contactless payments let shoppers tap their card or mobile wallet, completing the transaction in seconds. This is much easier for customers, and they appreciate the efficiency.
More businesses are offering contactless pay, and the consumer demand for it is increasing. By 2021, an estimated 60% of all Canadians will use a mobile wallet. And since 83% of Canadians currently use a smartphone, it is clear that this trend is going to stick.
You Need to Accept EMV
What is it?
Although the chip and pin method has become commonplace in Canada, many merchants have elected to continue using the outdated swiping method known as “magstripe”. Europay, MasterCard, and Visa (referred to as “EMV”) introduced chip card technology back in the 90s and it has been proven to reduce in-person (aka “card present”) fraud.
By establishing global standards, EMV has helped protect consumers and merchants from technologically advanced criminals in the 21st century. Using encrypted codes, EMV makes it much harder for hackers to obtain customers’ card information which can keep your business safe.
How does this help you?
Of course, fraud will never be completely eliminated, and merchants must be prepared for the worst. Compliance with EMV gives merchants protection against high liability costs when fraud strikes their customers. Making the switch can actually save your business money, for example, as of October 15th 2015, businesses that do not accept Visa chip card transactions may be responsible for any resulting counterfeit fraud.
And not to worry, Smart Terminals like the Clover Flex and Poynt come EMV compliant out of the box.
You’re Missing New Opportunities
Smart Terminals
Amazing new technologies enable merchants to do so much more than just payment processing with a device. Smart Terminals, like those offered by Clover and Poynt, can serve as your terminal, receipt printer, and POS system.
A POS system can help you organize and manage your business with features like inventory counting, sales reporting, CRM, and more. These systems use cloud technology to ensure your data is safely secured and that you will always have access to it.
Click here to learn more about the new Clover Mini, the most advanced smart terminal on the market.
You’re losing Customers
In our modern and highly digitized society, people expect instant gratification. People don’t remember the pain of dial-up internet, and now get impatient if the 3G signal isn’t strong enough or if their Wifi is slow while flying 30,000 feet above the ground!
It is extremely important that merchants adapt their processes to fit this mindset.
Consumers today do not like to waste their time, and will not settle for a slow payment transaction process. Especially with the rise of easy online shopping, it is vital to make the in-store experience as seamless as possible to retain customers.
It is important to remember how much time, money and effort you put into creating the look and feel of your business so that customers have an amazing experience. It does not make sense to end their great experience with out of date technology.
Pro tip: ask the experts
There are a lot of terminal options out there for merchants to choose, and it is hard to know which one will work best for your business. Here at Payment Experts, we can find you the perfect payment processing solution.
Whether you require a single debit machine or a fully-loaded smart terminal, we can help you better understand the full capabilities of your device. Do not hesitate to call with any questions, after all we are the experts.