How to take payment

[postbridge]

Hi There Folks.Looking to start a small business selling bunting.What should I do about payments.As cheques can no longer be guaranteed how can i go about accepting cards etc .Regards

 

[davidakerr]

There are plenty of threads on this Forum about this subject. Just do a search on here for Merchant Services, or phone your friendly Bank and ask them what they charge and then repeat with every other company offering these services.

 

[Sparx]

Are you looking for an actual physical PDQ Card Machine or an Online Payment Solution? Either way, I would recommend www.cardsave.net

 

[shadesofblue]

If you're looking for a chip and pin terminal as new to cards you should be aiming for a rate of around 1.5% on personal credit cards and 21p on the debits cards.

If you're taking payment via the telephone these rates will always be slightly higher for every company you go with.

I'm not a fan of cardsave so they don't get my vote but there are plenty out there so here are a few to get you googling:



cardsave
paymentsense
retail merchant services
cards payment solutions
handepay


barclaycard
AIB
HSBC
Bank of scotland
Lloyds
Streamline

Don't presume that just because you have a business bank account with a bank they'll be the best deal for card payments.

Certainly don't assume they'll give you independent advice!

 

[SparkMediaIndustries]

Hi There Folks.Looking to start a small business selling bunting.What should I do about payments.As cheques can no longer be guaranteed how can i go about accepting cards etc .Regards

I spoke with RBS on Friday about taking card payments over the phone from clients instead of using checks. I can confirm a company I am going to use on Monday about this but some banks have schemes on that protects you. Can you not ask your customer for a Cheque Guarantee Card.

 

[~serenity~]

Hi There Folks.Looking to start a small business selling bunting.What should I do about payments.As cheques can no longer be guaranteed how can i go about accepting cards etc .Regards

Paypal are very good, you can send invoices to customers etc and they take a small fee

 

[~serenity~]

That's if you're planning on selling online, but Lloydstsb Cardnet is very good.

 

[paulears]

cheque guarantee cards are pretty useless now - the maximum the guarantee is less than many individual transactions - hence why you can't even fill up at the petrol station - £90 of diesel isn't much use with a guarantee card with only half guaranteed! My local back street garage now have a machine because just one duff cheque is a major problem - and my son bought a £3 grand second hand car the other day and rather than cash, they wanted a debit card. Cheques are just not as useful, reliable or quick!

 

[AdelanteSoftwareLtd]

You definitely will need a merchant account if you wish to accept card payments, which involves a variety of prices, so find the cheapest, it's very much worth the effort.

In terms of accepting card payments, you should consider accepting card payments via mobile phone. This would mean you could save a lot of money by not renting a terminal and just use the equipment that you already own. Mobile POS from Adelante works on 90% of all mobile phones. There is also a iPhone and Android application to make accepting cards that bit easier.

Watch your costs and contract lengths as it really does affect your bottom line.

 

[shadesofblue]

You definitely will need a merchant account if you wish to accept card payments, which involves a variety of prices, so find the cheapest, it's very much worth the effort.

In terms of accepting card payments, you should consider accepting card payments via mobile phone. This would mean you could save a lot of money by not renting a terminal and just use the equipment that you already own. Mobile POS from Adelante works on 90% of all mobile phones. There is also a iPhone and Android application to make accepting cards that bit easier.

Watch your costs and contract lengths as it really does affect your bottom line.

come on, whilst accepting payment on a mobile is acceptable in some limited circumstances you know full well that this wouldn't be appropriate for his type of business. I'm all for people promoting their products but it has to be in the correct context.

At the moment payment via a mobile is not widely recognised and until it it people who only offer this will lose out.

 

[tresehabas]

paypal is a very good option.

 

[AdelanteSoftwareLtd]

come on, whilst accepting payment on a mobile is acceptable in some limited circumstances you know full well that this wouldn't be appropriate for his type of business. I'm all for people promoting their products but it has to be in the correct context.

At the moment payment via a mobile is not widely recognised and until it it people who only offer this will lose out.

PayPal is a more expensive option and payment is slower. It all depends on the context of the business, which was difficult to gather from one sentence. If a business sees themselves as being competitive in the long-run, then they should not consider PayPal, which is a short-term option. If it is a stall selling bunting, which I imagined, then PayPal is a slow process for quick business.

I apologise if you thought that my comments were out of context, the cheque guarantee scheme become obsolete is terrible for small businesses and our main aim is to keep card payments as cheap as possible, because at the end of the day, why should it be such a big cost. Merchant accounts, Chip & PIN hire, the whole process is a nightmare for a small business.