Research is an important part to making informed decisions when it comes to managing a small business. We’ve done the research for you and used our insights into the US payments industry to give you an inside look of what to expect when accepting payments.
We surveyed over 1,000 consumers and 1,000 businesses to get their views on the payments industry and summarized our findings in the 2018 Payments Landscape Report. Here’s our snapshot of what you should consider when accepting business payments.
- Start with debit and credit transactions. Cash and card payments are still big players despite today’s changing climate. Cash, debit and credit are the top three forms of payment that consumers noted they are likely to always carry with them, respectively.
- Be open to emerging payments. Though cash and cards are currently the top preferred methods, consumers are gradually leaning toward emerging options like peer-to-peer payment apps and mobile wallets like Apple Pay and Samsung Pay.
- Consider customer experience. Sixty-seven percent of respondents said they would be more likely shop somewhere that offered a range of payment options.
- Watch for pricing structure. Forty-five percent of business respondents cited increased merchant fees as a disadvantage to accepting a wide range of payment types.
- Add security features. More than half the consumer responses indicated security as a top priority, even over speed and cost. Forty-one percent of businesses said they had experienced customer fraud within the past 12 months.
- Stay flexible with integration. Forty-nine percent of your peers and competitors will use consumer demand as the driver behind the types of payments they adapt, so make sure you payment system is future-ready.