Card payments now account for more than half of all transactions in the UK, with contactless payments making up a large proportion of those transactions.
Cash on the other hand continues to decline as customers prefer the convenience of simply using a debit or credit card, or their smartphone via digital payments like Apple Pay or Samsung Pay.
That being said, there are some businesses (particularly new or small businesses) that still rely on accepting cash to take payments.
In this article, contactless card machine provider Handepay outlines the top 6 reasons any business should accept card payments.
1 - More customers expect to use contactless payments
Around one in five customers no longer carry cash, according to research by First Bus.
Of those who don’t carry cash anymore, most say it’s because they prefer the speed and convenience of using cards or other mobile payments.
With more customers now preferring (and expecting) to use card payments, your business is creating unnecessary barriers that could alienate some potential customers.
2 - Card payments are more convenient for everyone
If you remember the days when everyone used cash, you’ll remember all the times you got caught in a long, slow-moving queue as cash was handed over and change given back.
There’s no way of getting around the fact that cash is slow and inconvenient when paying for something.
It might not seem like a long time for one or two customers, but when you have dozens of customers queuing to pay with cash, the time will soon add up.
Contactless card payments on the other hand are far more convenient.
Whether using cards or a smartphone, the customer simply has to tap against the card machine and the transaction will be authorized and completed instantly.
This means for the business you can reduce the waiting times for customers and get through more transactions in a shorter period.
3 - Be more flexible with how you accept payments
Taking card payments isn’t as simple as investing in a card machine and taking payments.
There are different types of card machines you could use and the one that’s best for you will be determined primarily by how you want to accept payments.
For example, you might simply want to have a countertop card machine that sits at the front of the store for customers to come to a single place.
Or you might want to have mobile card machines that allow you to take payments directly to your customers.
There’s also the option to have countertops and mobile card machines for a highly flexible payment system.
However you want to accept card payments, you can be highly flexible with how you use card machines to improve your business’ payment system.
4 - Increase payment security
In 2021 more than 100,000 counterfeit Bank of England banknotes with a value of £2.7m were taken out of circulation.
This is potential money lost for businesses that have accepted these types of notes.
There’s no way around the fact that counterfeit notes are a real risk to businesses, and they’re easy to miss when it’s busy and your employees are rushing around.
Card payments are far more secure.
The transactions are encrypted so can’t be intercepted by thieves, and transactions are only approved if the customer has the relevant funds in their account.
Card and contactless payments have highly effective protocols in place to protect both businesses and customers, and they automatically create audit trails of all the payments received by the company.
This makes card payments far more secure.
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5 - Make more sales (with higher transaction values)
Limiting customers to only pay by cash means they can only complete purchases based on the money they have in their pocket.
Customers using cards, on the other hand, can complete higher-value transactions (and more of them) in a shorter period.
This is especially true since the contactless spending limit was raised on credit and debit cards to £100 back in October.
This is especially true with the contactless spending limit rising on credit and debit cards to £100 in October 2021.
Research has also proven that customers using card payments are more likely to increase their transaction value because they feel freer to spend more. These customers are also more likely to make additional ‘impulse’ purchases.
According to other research, one in 10 customers (12%) say using contactless payments increased their impulse purchases.
6 - Contactless payments continue to increase in popularity
While contactless card payments have been increasing in popularity at a steady pace for several decades, the last few years have seen a dramatic increase in the popularity of card payments and digital payments.
Since the Covid-19 pandemic, more customers than ever are using contactless card payments, many of whom had never done so before covid.
And with newer payment methods like digital payments and e-wallets rising in popularity, cash is falling further behind.
This trend in contactless payments is only going to increase more in the future as digital payment technology develops further.
Improving your business with card payments
Card payments have become the go-to payment method for the majority of customers.
For businesses, this means adapting to the way consumers want to pay for goods and services.
Investing in a card machine doesn’t just ensure you’re able to accept contactless payments immediately, but it also future-proofs your business when it comes to further developments in payment technology.
Businesses that continue to rely on cash will quickly find themselves falling behind the competition.
