Since the days of Midas, people have been in awe of how some enterprises really do manage to turn lowly objects into gold. Take the credit-card as an example. The plastic costs pennies and yet credit-card companies have convinced consumers in mass to make the switch from banks to plastic when it’s time to pay for merchandise or services.
If you’re a small Mom-and-Pop service business, every quarter, nickel and dime contributes to the bottom line. (Who counts pennies anymore?) That’s why you should seriously consider the amount you are spending on interchange fees. In case you don’t know, interchange fees are those one-digit fees Visa, MasterCard and other credit card companies collect as service fees for processing payments made using a credit card.
Most merchants just consider it an unavoidable cost of doing business. However if most of your customers swipe a credit card to buy your goods or services, you may be handing over several percentage points in interchange fees to mega corporations.
There’s a simple solution: Automated Clearinghouse House (ACH) payments. It’s a bird of a different color, as ACH payments are processed through the banking system. Are you interested in shaving a percent or two off your bottom line?
It’s low-hanging fruit and those massively large credit-card companies won’t even notice you’re clawing back a percent of your profits. All that’s required is a little bit of client education. Let your customers know ACH payment processing is easy to set up. The big credit-card firms won’t miss it, but you will be delighted to have recouped a portion of what you were paying in interchange fees. It’s a win-win!