Small businesses increasingly rely on digital payments to reach customers and compete in a growing e-commerce market. For merchants making the transition online, however, payment gateway fees and transaction costs can add another expense at a time when many businesses are already under financial pressure.
Visa’s Authorize.net is using Super Bowl Sunday to encourage more small businesses to accept digital payments. Through a one-day promotion for new U.S. and Canadian customers, the payment gateway is waiving certain monthly and transaction fees, potentially reducing the cost of establishing an online payment presence. The promotion also demonstrates how payment providers are competing for small business customers as digital commerce becomes increasingly important to merchants of all sizes.
This Sunday’s Super Bowl may prove to be a high scoring game, but some small businesses in the U.S. and Canada may run off some winning plays of their own. Authorize.net, Visa’s payment gateway platform, is offering up a one-day promotion that features some monthly and transaction fee savings for new merchant accounts.
E-commerce transactions continue to grow and competition is intense among payment providers. Authorize.net’s play action may not be a game changer, but it should get the attention of many small business owners.
The following excerpt from a Business Wire article reports more on the topic:
On Super Bowl Sunday, Visa, the official payment technology partner of the National Football League, will change the game for the small business community with a one-day offer that will eliminate some of the costs associated with getting online and accepting digital payments – a value of over $10,000 per small business.
Visa’s small business digital payment management platform, Authorize.net, is waiving its monthly gateway fee for the life of an account along with its transactional fees for the first 100,000 transactions of new United States and Canada customers signing up on February 7th. The sign up process can only take a few minutes and Authorize.net works with a wide array of banks and credit unions to make the onboarding easier, alleviating another hurdle for businesses in their demanding routine. Visa’s Authorize.net offer can help aid businesses bottom line and enable increased revenue by opening new digital payment streams.
“The resiliency of small businesses is inspiring, but there is work to do to help them recover and thrive. The Authorize.Net offer extends Visa’s commitment to digitally enable businesses and helps alleviate burdens by minimizing some recurring operational costs,” said Carleigh Jaques, senior vice president and general manager of Visa’s Authorize.net. “While we have rallied behind our small businesses all season, Super Bowl Sunday is an opportunity to give small businesses support that could last a lifetime.”
The Authorize.net Super Bowl promotion highlights the growing importance of small business digital payments and the increasingly competitive market for merchant payment services. While a one-day incentive alone may not transform the payment gateway landscape, eliminating certain recurring and transaction fees can lower a significant barrier for businesses looking to establish or expand their e-commerce operations.
For small merchants, the benefits extend beyond simply accepting a card payment online. A reliable digital payment platform can open additional sales channels, help businesses reach customers outside their immediate geographic markets, and provide consumers with the convenient checkout experience they increasingly expect.
As e-commerce continues to grow, payment providers have an opportunity to differentiate themselves by making digital payment acceptance more accessible and affordable. Promotions like this one give small businesses another reason to evaluate their payment strategies while demonstrating how providers can use pricing incentives to attract merchants in an increasingly crowded market.
Overview by Raymond Pucci, Director, Merchant Services at Mercator Advisory Group
