The internet has brought many benefits to businesses over the past years, and it served as a gateway for interconnecting both people, and business facets alike. It has brought positive effects in increasing the productivity in the workplace, and has brought more efficiency in executing tasks. The internet has promoted the standards of living in many aspects, and has flourished the impact of technology across to many people around the world. It is now easier to gain knowledge and experience learning even without going to formal schools. It is also possible to make purchases without leaving the comforts your homes. Remote supervision in business without sacrificing quality are also viable already.
In the market aspect, the rapid growth and expansion that businesses experience through the advancements in technology made them explore other venues to put their products and services at work. Businesses nowadays are gradually bringing their goods from traditional shops to the online market platform. This can enable a dynamic and flexible way of engaging many customers in the business. This can also bring the goods to a place that is most convenient to access for customers at any time they wish. Engaging in online retailing extends the time that your goods are available for sale, unlike with physical shops that observe the opening and closing hours. Of course, as a human being you also need to rest, but your online shop can continue to cater to customers 24/7 because the whole transaction process is automated.
The technology of smart phones, and other mobile devices nowadays, permitted the access to the internet to expand further. With a growing number of applications that are being developed to add value to the basic smart phone functions (calling and text messaging), the adoption of mobile technology further optimized the way the internet influence the very lives of its users. Even the very core of smart phone functions, the communication system, have been optimized better, through the internet based technologies. In turn, these advancements in the mobile technology widen the perspective of its users about the power they have with their mobile devices.
There are many developments that the web technology has brought into our lives, and will continue to do so in the future. After all, technology seemed to be an impression of endless possibilities in our lives, who knows what it will bring in the next five to ten years.
Overview of Traditional Credit Card Processing
In business, the whole customer experience, and the business transaction success, will be incomplete without purchase and payment processing. In the past, the execution of trade and commerce is done through a form of exchange system, where customers have something to offer to the merchant in exchange for the goods that they need. This is usually in the form of another type of product that the merchant also needs for himself. As time progressed, this type of system is replaced with a more efficient way of payment in the form of coins made of gold or silver, which connotes a certain value. This is the ancient form of money used in the early years of business trade, and commerce. The use of money revolutionized the way businesses function and how it puts the value of their goods.
These days, the use of cash, or money in terms of bills and coins, is the most basic form of making payments in exchange for products and services from vendors in the market. As the forms of the products vary and the value of each increases, there came also the need for a more secure way of making payments involving huge amounts of money. And as people are starting to be busier with many things in their lives, the stronger the need for an efficient cash flow mechanism that they can adopt whether in business or personal lives. The effect of the innovations in modes of transportation and communication enabled people to be on the go, with purposes of both for business and pleasure activities. The increased mobility that people are experiencing, together with the need for a secure, convenient and fast way of doing business with companies, calls for an alternative way of capping off the transaction in the form of credit card solutions.
A credit card, a piece of plastic with a size comparable to a standard identification card, is more than just a card, but rather a powerful tool that holds value. A credit card can be used as payment in exchange for goods and services from merchants that accept it. The use of credit cards rose from the idea of expanding the purchase power of customers by merchants, lending credit to enable them to avail goods and services now, but to pay for it at a later time. The system was later developed with the involvement of bigger financial institutions to grant credits to more customers, and to those who need higher credit amounts like businesses.
The traditional way of credit card processing services works by involving four parties in executing a transaction: the customer, the merchant, the issuing bank and the acquiring bank. Each functionis relative to each other, and follows a sequence in terms of engagement.
Nonetheless, the whole transaction process is a cycle that starts from the merchant, and it ends with the same. The credit card is used in lieu of cash, which holds the guarantee of payment for the merchant and customer, and guarantee of a loan from the banks.
The whole process works with banks lending the amount of the product purchased, with the merchant paying corresponding fees to the mediators in the process, and the customer pays for the actual value of the item, plus the applicable interest charges if the due amount isn’t paid in full at the end of the period or a credit card cycle. At the point of sale, the customer gives the credit card to the merchant that, in turn, “swipes” it against a physical terminal at getting the necessary information from the card, sends it to the credit card processing company which facilitates all the verifications and authorizations from the issuing and acquiring banks. When all the pertinent details are verified by the credit card processor, the transaction will proceed. There are also instances that a merchant can still process payment, even without the card being physically present. This usually happens through the phone or the internet, wherein the customer just needs to supply a confidential code, or security code, which can be used to verify the necessary details to proceed with the payment even without swiping the card on the terminal.
How Mobile Payment Works?
In the market aspect, the rapid growth and expansion that businesses experience through the advancements in technology made them explore other venues to put their products and services at work. Businesses nowadays are gradually bringing their goods from traditional shops to the online market platform. This can enable a dynamic and flexible way of engaging many customers in the business. This can also bring the goods to a place that is most convenient to access for customers at any time they wish. Engaging in online retailing extends the time that your goods are available for sale, unlike with physical shops that observe the opening and closing hours. Of course, as a human being you also need to rest, but your online shop can continue to cater to customers 24/7 because the whole transaction process is automated.
The technology of smart phones, and other mobile devices nowadays, permitted the access to the internet to expand further. With a growing number of applications that are being developed to add value to the basic smart phone functions (calling and text messaging), the adoption of mobile technology further optimized the way the internet influence the very lives of its users. Even the very core of smart phone functions, the communication system, has been optimized better, through the internet based technologies. In turn, these advancements in the mobile technology widen the perspective of its users about the power they have with their mobile devices.
Basically, mobile payment schemes work the same with the traditional way of credit card processing, with the expanded methods of payments and tweaks with the terminal or hardware involved where the card is swiped on. Ways of executing mobile payments are worth an article to discuss, but we can divert our focus on the way of doing mobile credit card processing. There are many aspects involved in mobile credit card processing systems, which include the following:
Mobile Card Readers
Mobile card readers function essentially the same as traditional credit card terminals, only that instead of using adequately sized hardwares, phone lines and desktop computers manage the entire system, it makes use of a portable terminal which can be integrated with a smart phone, and use a wireless internet connection to transmit and receive details and verifications to and from the credit card processor and bank. This allows more flexibility in making fast and secure payment transactions that extends to customers on the go. The usual way of swiping method is also adopted in mobile credit card processing, with the same network system and process to observe. Transactions made by mobile card readers can also be integrated with the existing accounting system of the company to consolidate all transactions in one place.
Security and Efficiency
The concerns involving security with traditional credit card processing tools is basically the same with mobile credit card processing. Essentially, it uses the same network and gateway, and the compliance and standards observed by credit card processing companies can be attributed to it as well. Only that since mobile credit card processing utilizes a portable device like a smart phone or tablet, it is a call to use a dedicated device for your transactions, and apply added security measures by enabling phone passwords and running anti-viruses to prevent a system crash.
Executing fast transactions by traditional credit card processors are optimized further in using mobile credit card processing devices. The presence of high speed internet access remotely can make it an even more efficient system, on top of its mobility aspect.
Device Compatibility
Services of mobile credit card processing companies enabled their systems and readers to be dynamic in compatibility with most smart phones available in the market. The system and the reader can also function across multiple platforms like the Android OS and iOS which makes it flexible and friendly to use. The learning curve in using it isn’t that complicated, given that the system is used is essentially the same as with traditional methods.
Quick and Easy Payments for Clients
This is an important aspect in marketing campaigns where businesses hold events outside of the office walls like trade shows, bazaars or the weekend markets. There is a challenge in imposing the same varied payment methods inside a physical shop in an area outside of it. Through mobile credit card processing, the merchants can bring the same convenience of accepting credit cards as payments without bringing the bulk of hardware system inside the store, to the event venue. Such events offer many opportunities for sales, and a business cannot afford to miss any of it. It is a must to stay efficient in handling various types of transactions across many market situations, in order to create leverage and high level of competitiveness in your business.
Value Added Features
Mobile credit card processors introduce value added features to encourage more businesses in getting one of them too. Company loyalty programs can also be integrated with its system, allowing customers to earn points whenever they make transactions through their mobile applications. Mobile credit card processing fees and rates are usually lower since it actually encourages small businesses that don’t have enough resources in terms of money and hardware systems, to be able to adopt the traditional credit card processing solution. Rates are also flexible, depending on the capability and the actual needs of the business. In some packages for both traditional and mobile credit card processors, they can even give the mobile card reader for free.
NFC and Contactless Payment
Essentially, NFC and contactless payments are both within the same scope of operations. NFC stands for Near Field Communications, which is in the form of the magnetic strip found on credit cards. This strip is machine readable, and allows the information embedded on it to be transferred wirelessly through the use of a capable reader or device. Contactless payment is the term used to denote the function of NFC in using a credit card in payment transactions. Both are being utilized in the mobile credit card processing systems, as well in the traditional ones.
The exploration of the promising aspects of mobile technology is the path that our world is heading right now. It was actually said that from the information age, we are now going straight to the experience era, which is also utilized in mobile technology in the form of virtual reality experience in mobile phones, to cite one example. But whichever it goes from now, the benefits of mobile technology are already improving more aspects of people’s lives and of the business today.
Tick that box off your list in needing a payment processing partner for your on-the-go business gimmicks. The solution: adopting one of the best credit card processing services for your business. And in order to know which the better partner for you is, read on credit card processing services reviews to give you insights from clients’ feedbacks.
Keith Moore
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