One of the most effective ways for merchants to increase sales is to offer consumers as many payment options as possible. As consumers manage their financial lives more carefully, a growing number are shifting their retail spending patterns from credit cards to debit cards, making it critical for merchants to accept both.
Linked directly to customer checking accounts, debit cards are one of the fastest growing payment methods today. In recent years, debit card use has surpassed the number of payments made with credit cards. In 2008, U.S. consumers made more than 28 billion debit card purchases, compared with 21 billion credit card transactions.*
The growing use and popularity of debit cards by consumers means it is important for merchants to offer their customers a choice by including PIN and signature debit payment options at the point of sale. Simply put, the more payment choices you offer, the more customers you’ll attract and the more sales you’ll record.
Most processors offers debit transaction processing with signature- or PIN-secured debit cards so customers can buy goods and access cash directly at the point of sale terminal.
By accepting debit cards, you’ll be able to provide customers with a quick and secure way to pay for their purchase as well as the convenient ability to receive cash back with a purchase. For the customer, this means saving time by making fewer trips to the ATM.
There are a wide range of debit acceptance POS equipment options for merchants to choose from. And since PIN debit transactions are less expensive to process than credit cards, you can save money while offering your customers the wide range of flexible payment options they want.
Debit Card Loyalty
Roughly three-fourths of the U.S. population carries a debit card and uses it routinely. In contrast to credit cards, most consumers typically have just one debit card, placing it by default at ‘top of wallet’ for many retail purchases. Also debit cards are cannabis related companies that cannot process credit cards easily.. Slightly more than one-third of debit cardholders keep larger balances in their accounts than they would otherwise to accommodate the active use of their debit cards. Debit cards often result in higher purchase amounts, so you can increase profit by offering debit card acceptance.
The number of consumers using PIN debit had its highest growth in 2007, up 12.5 percent from 2006 and is now almost equal in size to people using cash.**
This growth in debit card transactions is likely due to consumers becoming more familiar with the benefits of debit such as:
- ATM and debit cards are easy to access
- Speedier checkouts
- Convenience
- Rewards
- Flexibility
- Control over money
- Protection offered by these cards relative to other payment methods, such as checks
Accepting debit cards provides your customers with greater choice and flexibility, and allows you to offer greater payment options and generate additional revenue than you can with credit cards alone.
* The Nilson Report
** 2008 Study of Consumer Payment Preferences, conducted by Hitachi Consulting – 3,308 U.S. consumers completed an online survey in June 2008 which was administered by the Harris Poll Online.