(or, 3 tips to make it in MOTO business today)
Well, you heard me.
MOTO credit card processing as it was known at its inception is
dead. What comes to mind when one
pictures MOTO credit card processing? A
businessperson typing a card number into a credit card terminal, right? The technology in those terminals is
approaching the age of dirt. And, even more importantly--because some of us enjoy collecting classic items--that old technology is responsible for 85% of the
card-not-present downgrades on monthly processing statements and 75% of the
shoddy reports generated by harried accounting staff members.
Okay, so I’m totally lying about the numbers. The point—that transactions are downgraded
terribly and reporting tools are nonexistent with physical terminals—is absolutely
valid. If there were a way to measure
shoddiness of reports as a function of harriedness of accounting staff from the
general crappiness of the quality of life due to the oldness of your physical
terminal, there would probably be a positive correlation.
MOTO credit card processing as you probably know it has
outlived its expiration date. If you
know it as something else than what I’ve described, be happy you didn’t have to
live through the golden (expensive, stressful) years. You don’t have to take notes today. However, if you have no idea what could ever
replace your credit card terminals in the scheme of your business, you’ve
arrived at the right place. It’s time to
get down and dirty.
MOTO credit card processing tips
1. With the internet all things are possible (especially improved payment technology)
The internet has improved human life tremendously—or,
rather, it’s sped everything up and made it easier to pass information
around. How does this apply to MOTO
credit card processing? Well, nowadays,
you have options other than the physical terminals you might be using. Take, for example, the virtual terminal:
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| If you're not familiar, it'll look something like this. Pretty nice UI, and intuitive reporting tools. |
Important to know about your virtual gateway:
- You can access your online gateway from anywhere with an internet connection, not just your office.
- Most virtual gateways are equipped with built-in searching and reporting tools, which are absolutely invaluable for copy requests, other audits, and simply reporting things at the end of the day or month.
- Some virtual gateways can be equipped to integrate to your accounting system (like QuickBooks, or wherever else you might create and reconcile invoices), which brings about a whole host of other benefits. There’s no better way to catapult your business into the 21st century than with a payment integration—and, your accounting staff will agree.
2. You can utilize payment channels other than mail and telephone
I know MOTO stands for Mail Order/Telephone Order, but in
the past decades, that business model has expanded to include online orders,
either via email or shopping cart.
Strongly consider whether or not your customers would benefit from the
addition of an email payment portal, or a web shopping cart. Maybe your website isn’t much to look at, or—good
heavens—maybe you don’t even have a website.
Whereas payment integration can help almost everyone, adding a web
shopping channel might not be for you
if you have a well-established client base and you aren’t worried about not attracting Joe Average consumers. But…I
would wager that this idea helps more businesses than it hurts. I mean, adding visibility and more payment
methods can never hurt.
 |
| Shopping carts give you access to SO much useful data! Makes me want to start my own business. |
Important to know about an online payment method for your customers:
- This is the age of automation. Usually, if people have the opportunity to use an email portal or shopping cart for payment, they will. That means orders come to you without you having to answer the phone. And, that saves time.
- You can automatically import your online payment data to your virtual gateway with information from other payment channels (like telephone) and make your reporting even easier.
- Some shopping carts (like Magento) are designed to lower the base costs of accepting certain credit cards for payment. Depending on your potential for online orders, this could be a great windfall.
3. The importance of PCI compliance can’t be overstated, so use a compliant solution
In light of the mainstream data breaches you've undoubtedly heard or read about, this point can't be stressed enough. Using a
virtual gateway or an integrated processing solution has the potential to
significantly increase your data security, and decrease your chance of becoming the next mainstream news story.
Important to know about PCI compliance:
- It’s easy to believe you’re invulnerable to hacks since you use a physical terminal—but, it simply isn’t true. Hacking into phone lines isn’t terribly difficult; an entire subculture of phreakers could attest to that in the 1980s.
- Using a virtual terminal secures your data, and, using a tokenized data solution makes the data even safer than with a conventional virtual terminal.
- Solutions like these are in high demand given the past few years—and, contrary to what you might believe, these solutions are usually available at no additional cost, as modern processors have adopted PCI compliance as a standard.
The beginning of something great
When something dies, something invariably takes its place,
and we’re witnessing the implementation of some really cool payment processing
options. (I don't know about you, but I really like it when I can get a machine or a computer program to do instantly the work I would have spent 30 minutes doing, all while offering me a higher standard of data protection.) Request a virtual terminal demo from the
merchant services provider of your choice, and talk to several companies about
what new MOTO credit card processing options will do for you. I think if you give these options a chance,
you’ll be pleasantly surprised at how much your business is improved.
Until next time,
Jeremy
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