Written by Suzette Covalt
Saving time and money… music to your ears? Would you agree that most business owners would love this concept? This is what you can expect when utilizing the technology your financial institutions are offering to handle your business finances.
No matter how you refer to it, whether it’s virtual, digital, online or mobile, there has been a rise in this way of banking for business owners due to the decline in physical brick and mortar banking locations. BUT, it’s not only that, there are time saving features that really help on a day to day basis.
For example: if you could deposit checks from your customers immediately, without leaving your office, would you do it? How much more efficient would you be if you no longer had to drive to the bank and wait in line to complete your transactions? If you did not have to write a check for each employee’s payroll or for each incoming bill would you be interested?
Utilizing ACH payment services can save you the time spent writing numerous checks as well as the cost for printing those checks. It can also reduce your risk of fraud by not having checks floating around in the mail making it an easy target for fraudsters to steal and copy your checks.
Another service you could be utilizing is Merchant Services. This is where you accept credit cards for payment of your products and/or services. Today, most people carry a credit card instead of cash or checks; therefore, making it a more convenient form of payment. There are merchant card service companies that offer an array of fee structures from flat fees, to a certain percentage of your sales, to passing the fee on to your customer. Each fee choice is based on your business’ type, location and/or sales volume, and you want to make sure you use the best fee structure for you, your business and your customers.
According to Forbes Advisor “a survey from February 2023 shows that just 9% of Americans primarily use cash to pay for purchases. Debit and credit cards are the primary method used, with 54% of consumers using a physical or virtual debit card and 36% of consumers using a physical or virtual credit card.”
Meet with your banker to discuss which products work best for you and your business – you may be pleasantly surprised!
