ATM lines have gotten shorter over the years and cash payments have seen a downfall, open your eyes and recognized the inevitable change. When a person has the authority to pay directly from their bank accounts without having to withdraw a wad of cash, they are surely going to go for it. Cash has stepped down from the throne as plastic money (credit cards/debit cards) came waltzing in to take a seat and take over.
Cash transactions have been declining at a decent rate, is this good for business? Well it depends on which side of the table you’re at; are you a giant company that has already invested in card/chip technology and are capable of accepting payments or are you a small business that is still trying to hold its ground?
Well if you’re a small or medium-sized business owner, your business and source of income may be at risk. People are now a day’s prefer paying by card and if they find out you might not accept their cards, you might end up losing customers. It is advised that small and medium-sized businessmen start to commence the proper implementation of EMV card readers and credit card machines.
While it is true the transaction charges imposed by banks seem to be a bit high and are one of the main reasons as to why merchants are not convinced in using card readers. But merchants should consider paying these charges as an investment that will help them in the long run. Opening your business to accept credit card payment will only benefit you by increasing your income.
And if you’re still hesitant due to high transaction charges you don’t need to worry as there are credit card companies which provide small and medium-sized businessmen with card readers at a low rate. SumUp is one such company, that encourages to accept credit card payments and has transaction charges as low as 2.65% per transaction.
SumUp is a European based company that has gained immense popularity all over Europe and parts of South America like Brazil. The company has set up their office in Boulder, Colorado and are branching their way through the American Markets. SumUp wishes to manifest the vision of becoming the world’s first and biggest globally accepted card brand. They provide EMV based card readers and even a way to accept card payment for all those businessmen who are always on the go.
It is totally up to businessmen as to what type of card reader they opt for, but let us brief you on the different type of card readers available in the market:
EMV Card Reader: This card reader is based on chip technology, only cards which have an encrypted chip placed on it will be able to make payments via this terminal. The chip contains all the essential details that will assist in making in the transaction successful. EMV stands for “Europay MasterCard Visa”, due to the advanced chip technology it is gradually gaining popularity in the market.
Swipe Card Reader: This is the most basic card reader technology available in the market. This card reader requires the user to swipe their card along the physical terminal present. The card should have a metallic strip which only after swiping initiate the transaction and transfer money.
Swipe card readers are merely out of fashion and will soon see an end, due to security concerns.
NFC Card Reader: NFC stands for “Near Field Communication”, to use this type of card reader all those cards which have been equipped with NFC technology, smartphones or other smart devices that use RFID are eligible for making transactions. This type of payment is known as “minimum-contact” payment. You can just tap your card on a terminal and the payment will be made.
If merchants are going to invest in card readers they should also be aware of some rules. One such rule is the “Liability Shift”, This reform was made to protect visa chip cards or people who had implemented chip technology. It states that “In the case of an in-store fraudulent payment, the party which has not invested in chip technology will be held responsible for the fraud.”
To give you a better understanding we will provide you with an example:-
1st Scenario: A customer makes a counterfeit payment with a magnetic strip card on a swiping machine. In such cases, the customer is held liable for fraud due to conventional rules.
2nd Scenario: A customer makes a forged payment using a chip-equipped card on a magnetic stripe only terminal. In such a case the merchant will be held liable, as the cardholder has invested in chip technology for safer transactions while the merchant did not.
3rd Scenario: A customer found to have made a fraudulent payment using their chip equipped card on a chip-based card reader. In such a case the liability will shift to the customer and the merchant will walk free.