Most of your customers probably don’t keep large amounts of cash on them, and some clients may even put off portions of or entire jobs because they don’t have the cash or money in their bank account to cover it at that moment.
Accepting credit cards removes the need for the cash to be there right away, and according to NerdWallet, studies show that “people spend 12-18% more when using credit cards instead of cash” and “Credit card buyers put focus on benefits over cost” so they’re more likely to think less about the amount and spend more than they would if they paid with a check or cash.
Accepting credit and debit cards can make your business appear more established and trustworthy when compared to competitors that only accept cash or check.
Businesses that only accept cash also appear as more risky to do business with. According to Angie Hicks from Angie's List, “Angie's List members experience show and the Federal Trade Commission cautions that contractors whose only payment option is cash are not as reputable as those who have other payment options available.” and that “Contractors who insist on cash payment may not have the financial ability to complete your project and may be using the money for things other than your project.”
Running a business can leave you with seemingly endless amounts of paperwork, including cash and checks that need to be deposited and documented. With card payments, you don’t need to remember to deposit your customer's payment or manually record the transaction for your accountant- that money is automatically deposited into your account and logged so you can refer back to it as needed, with no effort on your part.
It can be difficult to look past the fees when adding credit card acceptance to your business, but building those costs into your pricing is an easy way to cover them. Rather than charging a fee to customers who want to pay with a card, raise your prices just a little to incorporate card fees into your default pricing.
For example, let’s say your original labor price is $40 per hour. If you increase that by just $1.50 to $41.50, the cost of a 3.5% credit card acceptance fee would be completely covered. If you’d still like to give a break to customers paying without a card, you can offer a cash or check discount. Just keep in mind that this would negate the benefits listed above.
Estimate Rocket offers credit card acceptance using Stripe, so you can easily connect and accept payments online and have all of your invoice and payment info in one place! If you’re already using Estimate Rocket, check out this guide or this video about getting set up. If you’re not using Estimate Rocket yet, start your free 30-day trial here!
Let us know your experiences with accepting cards in your business! Write to us in the comments, on Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn!