According to NBC News, consumers are projected to spend more than $800B this holiday shopping season, which traditionally starts around Thanksgiving. As consumers spend more, businesses also need to be cognizant of the increase of payment fraud potential during the busy shopping period, as well as an increase in credit card processing fees. Ensuring your business is equipped with the latest EMV technology to prevent fraudulent charges at your expense, and searching for the best possible options regarding merchant processing for your business, are two ways to ensure holiday shopping for your business runs as smoothly as possible this year.
Since the EMV switch last October, almost every merchant has a chip card reader, and the chip technology has been implemented into most of our credit cards from the bank. However, there are still companies waiting to adopt the technology and implement new card readers, making them susceptible to fraud. Due to the EMV Liability Shift, having a fraudulent card run could bring your business to its knees. If a business has not adopted EMV technology, it is the one held financially liable for the fraudulent transaction, not the banks. In the case of most small businesses, this liability forces them to shut down, making it extremely important to find a merchant processor that provides up-to-date technology and terminals, ensuring all transactions are secure and EMV-compliant. According to a study conducted by The National Cyber Security Alliance, 60 percent of small businesses close within six months of experiencing a data breach.
In addition to ensuring your business is secure throughout the holiday season, it’s also important to make sure you’re not overpaying for processing. A recent Fattmerchant study found more than 30 percent of business owners blindly pay their high merchant processing bills each month. The survey found that while many merchants understand variable charges on merchant processing are high, they either aren’t knowledgeable of more cost-effective options or they don’t pay attention to the varying monthly charges to know they could be significantly saving. While 52 percent of respondents believe they are overpaying for merchant processing each month, 32 percent of participants either don’t look at their bill before paying it or have no knowledge about their merchant processing account. With such a substantial amount of money being spent this year on holiday shopping, it is a necessity to do your research and lock into a monthly rate for merchant processing to ensure you’re making the most profit possible during the boom in sales.
With the next few months bringing about the busiest shopping season of the year, be proactive, not reactive when it comes to protecting your profits and cutting extraneous expenses. While data breaches may be out of your control, signing away your bottom line to your merchant processing provider is completely avoidable. Take a moment this holiday season to not only investigate your options for EMV compliance, but also to reject the idea that your monthly credit card processing invoice will always be confusing and expensive. Do your research to ensure a safe and profitable season.
[Fattmerchant is a subscription-based merchant services provider, offering unlimited credit card processing at direct cost – 0% markups, no ancillary fees, and no contract. We offer free equipment with each plan, online reporting analytics, and personalized customer support. At Fattmerchant, our bottom line is making your bottom line bigger.]