How smart business owners can help their customers pay in times of cash-crunch

American entrepreneur Oded Wurman has a burgeoning small business. He provides software to emergency responders who need up-to-date information they can use in the field to save lives.

When customers asked him if they could pay their subscription with a credit or purchasing card, he used to say no. The fees charged by traditional card processors like Square, Intuit, PayPal, and Stripe were significant, often taking 3-4% of his revenue. He simply couldn’t justify that cost. And as a small business owner, he was far from alone.

But then Oded heard about Plastiq, the way to accept cards without paying a fee. He signed up and is now processing tens of thousands of dollars in credit card payments per year and his clients appreciate the option to pay with a card rather than just by check or wire even if they need to pay a small fee. They simplify their purchasing processes and can even write off the Plastiq fee from their taxes. Many earn rewards and cash-back from their card, too.

The majority of US small businesses still do not accept credit cards because the fees are something that they can simply not afford. The credit card industry has done nothing to address the needs of small businesses’ with already thin profit margins.

Yet accepting credit cards has become critically important for businesses especially in times like these. Whenever we speak to small business owners, we hear the same thing over and over—their customers are eager to pay with a credit card and have no problem picking up the processing fees.

To understand why, we talked to dozens of payers who told us they were often temporarily hampered by working capital shortages. They were hard pressed to keep cash on hand and preferred to use their credit card if vendors would accept them. Other payers wanted to use cards because it was their company’s preferred method of dealing with expense management and accounting.

Armed with these insights we developed Plastiq Accept to let businesses easily and safely accept card payments without having to pick up the processing fees. We added state-of-the-art risk and compliance management capabilities to protect their hard-earned revenue against fraud while allowing their payers to use existing credit cards.

The response has been incredible. Thousands of businesses have signed up to use Plastiq for free, and they’re profiting from millions of dollars in additional revenue and more loyal customers.

It’s easy for any business to get started. Sign-up takes minutes and requires no credit verifications or integration. Money typically arrives the next business day directly into the existing bank account, and best of all, there’s not even a need for a new merchant account. Several automated reporting and alerting features let the business know the status of all payments in real time.

According to an Intuit study1, small businesses that don’t accept credit cards miss out on more than $100B in annual sales. What once seemed impractical and uneconomical for a company like Oded’s, all of a sudden became a no-brainer.

At Plastiq we innovate based on our customer’s needs and we listen to our customers’ pressing problems. Let us know what you think by emailing us at feedback@plastiq.com.

Grow your business and sign up for Plastiq Accept by clicking on the button below.

1 https://www.cnbc.com/2013/11/12/cash-only-business-owners-risk-100-billion-mistake.html