You may be new to increasing your sales and profits by accepting credit and debit cards. You may be getting a second opinion to benefit from lower rates/fees and better service. No matter the reason, you already relize that accepting credit and debit cards is a true benefit for your business. Did you know that the..

CONVENIENCE of multple payment methods increases sales:
You probably already know that accepting alternative forms of payment like credit and debit cards and making it more convenient for people to pay you will INCREASE YOUR SALES AND PROFITS. Some studies say by 30 -100% or more (Visa International). But is this reason alone enough to invest? Maybe not.

MERE PRESENCE OF CREDIT CARD LOGOS increases SALES
But I bet you didn't know that a fascinating study was explained in the book "Influence" by Robert Cialdini. It documented that the mere presence of Master Card/ Visa logos will INCREASE CASH SALES by 29% in controlled studies - even though credit cards were not used!

ADVERTISING GAINS CREDIBILITY
Did you also know that advertising that you accept credit and debit cards INCREASES YOUR CREDIBILITY? It's true. The public knows that Merchant Account status is not always easy to get and will look at you as more of a solid company - here to stay. "Hmmm... doesn't accept credit cards? Is there some kind of problem I should know about this company?"

AVERAGE SALE AMOUNT GOES UP
Were you aware that the AVERAGE SALE AMOUNT GOES UP? Studies prove (and I am sure it's true of most of us) that when we are ready to make a purchase and we are paying with a credit card we are more inclined to purchase the "upgrade" product or service. Human nature seems to cause most of us to be inclined to purchase the "better model or service upgrade" when we can finance the purchase with a credit card.

IMPULSE PURCHASES GO UP
Did you also know that your willingness to accept credit cards also causes IMPULSE PURCHASES TO GO UP? Customers are more likely to purchase that "Upsell" extra product. This is particulary true for online sales since the sale is just a few clicks away.

The ability to process online, real time Credit Card transactions is one of the mos important requirements for your Web Store. Without this ability you risk loosing in excess of 60% of your customers.

While electronic credit card processing has become streamlined, it's still not quite as simple as putting up an order form and waiting for the money to roll in. Some of the steps needed to accept credit cards include:

Developing an online purchasing procedure : A secure data gathering form, shopping cart or script allows sensitive owner and credit card data to be encrypted, which lessens the chance of fraud by a hacker.
Establishing a merchant account: A merchant account is basically enabling your checking account to receive payments from the credit card processing company. To have this ability some requirements must be met.
Establishing a way to process credit card orders: This can be done by hand offline with the card orders transmitted via phone or fax to your credit card company, or with a gateway, which clears the transaction online for you.

AMPHION Communications has been setting up merchants online since 1997. We have built a reputation for ourselves in the development of e-commerce solutions for small to medium sized businessess.