[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”no” equal_height_columns=”no” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” background_position=”center center” background_repeat=”no-repeat” fade=”no” background_parallax=”none” parallax_speed=”0.3″ video_aspect_ratio=”16:9″ video_loop=”yes” video_mute=”yes” border_style=”solid”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ layout=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” border_position=”all” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” center_content=”no” last=”no” min_height=”” hover_type=”none” link=””][fusion_text]

MOTO businesses have it a little different than their retail shop counterparts when it comes to processing card not present transactions—in fact, they have it a little easier in some regards, if you know some payment industry secrets.

Truth be told, they’re more like solutions hiding in plain sight.  Read on to learn exactly what these solutions are comprised of and how they can help your business.

Payment integrations give you less work to do for processing card-not-present transactions

For the uninitiated (unintegrated), a sales process might look a little like this:

1. Receive a phone call from a customer. Take the customer’s order; begin the fulfillment process.
2. Walk over to credit card terminal either with customer on the phone or having copied down customer’s card information. Enter the card information.
3. Retrieve receipt, print out an invoice. Staple the two together.  Place in a pile on your desk or somewhere else.
4. At the end of the day, sit down at your accounting computer and go through your stack of invoices, plugging in the proper payment amount for each one. Make sure your general ledger reflects the right daily total.

I know that doesn’t look very easy or fun.  That’s because most of these MOTO businesses, although extremely technologically advanced in most regards, are still living in the stone age when it comes to processing card-not-present transactions.  Perhaps it’s because someone in the company had a bad experience with a processor at one point and so now they stick with one way of doing things, or maybe it’s because “that’s just the way it’s always been.”  No matter the reason, it holds businesses back, and it’s an absolutely needless hindrance.

As opposed to the previous list, your process might look something like this with a software integration:

1. Receive a phone call from a customer. Take the customer’s order; begin the fulfillment process.
2. Enter customer’s credit card information directly into your accounting system, as you would have had to do anyway at the end of the day. Payments are applied to invoices automatically, and general ledger is automatically balanced to show proper totals.

As you can understand, for businesses that accept a great deal of credit card payments every day, payment integration for processing card-not-present transactions can be absolutely invaluable.  It saves several steps, not to mention a great block of time at the end of the day.  Imagine what you could do with an extra 20 or 30 minutes every day.  Perhaps an hour!  Your whole outlook on the day could change.

[/fusion_text][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container][fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ layout=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none” last=”no” hover_type=”none” link=”” border_position=”all”][fusion_text]

Virtual gateways still streamline tasks for businesses that can’t integrate payments

While some MOTO businesses would be perfect candidates for payment integration for processing card not present transactions, others are situated in such a way where integration simply doesn’t make sense or isn’t possible.  Sometimes these businesses have even considered integration but realized it wasn’t a good fit for them.  What are they to do?

Well, whatever they do, they don’t have to continue using a physical terminal.  One thing that’s consistent across all physical terminals is their lack of any sort of reporting tools or customization.  A virtual gateway is a starting point for better reporting, separating transactions by channel (for instance, shopping cart purchases, mobile purchases, and phone orders), by user (if you want to measure individual performance), and, simply an easier processing experience.  Where terminals simply process transactions and spit out a piece of paper, virtual terminals crunch numbers and do other work for you, saving you an untold amount of time with reporting and other useful analytics.

Technology reduces basic transaction costs for card not present transactions

In addition to saving time, using either a payment integration or a virtual gateway for processing card not present transactions can sometimes lower the base costs of accepting credit cards for payment.  These lower costs are obtained when the back end of the payment module or gateway passes required information to Visa, MasterCard, and card-issuing banks; when the card-issuers receive this extra information, they see your transactions as more secure and reward your processor with a lower cost, which can then be passed on to you as an advantage of processing with that company.

The base costs (called interchange in the industry) make up the bulk of what you pay in transaction fees, so it’s a bit different than your processor’s profit margin, which you can obviously negotiate directly with them.

In summary

The conveniences of the payment integration and the virtual gateway may have been hiding in plain sight all along, but it’s not too late to see how they might positively affect your business, not only by saving time but by improving overall morale.  It’s an effect that can’t be overstated, especially for people who spend a third of their living hours working for you.

Use the links above or click here to schedule a call back from Century Business Solutions to discuss which processing solutions will make your payment processing as efficient as the rest of your business.

[/fusion_text][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]