Today’s businesses must cater to today’s tech-savvy customers. So, what do you need for your business to succeed in our mobile-device-driven world?
Whether you have a shop on Main Street or go out to meet your buyer, today’s customers demand payment options, including cash, credit, debit cards, and increasingly, the ability to pay using their smartphone, tablet or smartwatch device––in other words, mobile payments.
First order of business: do you know your customers’ payment expectations? Do they want the ability to use the latest payments technologies? Do they want to pay using a contactless wave of a smartphone or smartwatch? And here’s another possibility: does your business need the capability of accepting payments on a mobile device, aka “mobile acceptance?”
Read up on the latest payments trends below.
Mobile payments in store
A mobile payment occurs when a customer pays using a smartphone, tablet or wearable device. Prior to visiting your store, the customer has already loaded his or her payments information into the mobile device. For your business to accept these kinds of payments, you’ll need the proper equipment, meaning the latest POS terminal and software.
When making a purchase, your customers may wave their devices or tap their devices on or near your payments terminal. They typically authenticate using biometrics, such as a fingerprint scan. In a few seconds, the transaction data will be securely submitted to your processor. These types of contactless mobile payments are becoming more common.
Also known as a “digital wallet” or “mobile wallet,” mobile payments such as this eliminate the need for your customers to carry a physical wallet, packed with debit and credit cards. With the latest in mobile payments, customers can keep all of their information safe and secure on one device.
Mobile acceptance on the go
Let’s flip to another kind of mobile acceptance: the ability for a merchant to accept card payments using a mobile device. You’ve no doubt seen a vendor at a farmer’s market or a pizza delivery guy accepting credit and debit card payments on a smartphone or tablet with an attached dongle. This mobile acceptance “on the go” is becoming ubiquitous.
It’s simple to set up, too. The merchant just downloads the proprietary app, plugs in the dongle, connects to a WiFi or cellular data signal, and is ready to start accepting payments on a mobile device. Mobile payment acceptance allows merchants to take their businesses out into the field, reach a wider audience, and ultimately make more sales.
What type of payment system do you need?
If you equip your business with payment systems to accept mobile payments from customers, as well as accept payments on a mobile device, you may be able to grow your business by reaching a whole new segment of customers.
Most important, be sure to select a payments processor that’ll help you not just keep up, but stay ahead of mobile payments trends. Mobile device technology continues to change rapidly, which means so will payment transactions.
