What do You Mean You Don’t Accept Credit Cards?

Credit Card Processing Offers Small Business Benefits

Glen’s Dinette is the dining venue of choice for residents of Babylon Village in Long Island, New York. Glen’s doesn’t take credit or debit cards but the restaurant is always crowded. In fact, it’s been that way for over 40 years.

Loyal diners consider it a community landmark. People stand in line for egg sandwiches, griddle cakes, and home fries. When they walk in the door, the vintage decor draws them into another decade. They don’t mind Glen’s cash-only, no credit card processing policy but can your business get away with that? Probably not.

Your business is missing out

If you don’t have credit card processing capability, you’re missing out on sales. The biggest reason: a lot of people just don’t carry much cash anymore. They rely on debit and credit cards or some other digital person-to-person (P2P) payment systems. (The often predicted cashless society may be getting closer to economic reality than you think.)

If you’ve been paying attention, you’ve probably seen the curious looks on customer’s faces who wondered why on earth you didn’t take plastic. One or more customers might have come right out and asked, “What do you mean you don’t accept credit cards?”

Other browsers probably demonstrated their no credit card processing frustration. In case you didn’t notice them, those were the customers who walked into your shop started to buy something expensive then noticed you didn’t do credit card processing. Those potential customers probably put their potential purchases back on the shelf and walked out muttering to themselves.

You really should have a credit card processing system

When US Bank conducted a Cash Behavior Survey in 2017 they found that over 50% of the people who responded carry cash less than half the time. 76% of those surveyed said they keep less than $50 in cash.

When Valuepenguin.com compiled credit card spending statistics from several resources they discovered a few surprising numbers.

• 83% of the valuable millennial demographic preferred credit cards.
• Consumers spend more when paying with credit cards.
• Diners leave higher tips.
• Spenders don’t pay attention to the increased spending because they focus more on credit card benefits than costs.
• Consumers just don’t notice when they’re paying more with credit cards.

Another survey found that many people prefer to use debit cards for everyday purchases.

Glen’s Dinette doesn’t need credit card processing

Glen’s diners love the food but that’s probably not why they stop at the ATM for cash before they eat. They love the wall that’s completely covered with license plates from across the country, many donated by customers. They love the root beer floats. They love the owner, Hapi Auer, and his big diner-guy personality and secret 3-day corned beef hash-making process. And, of course, Glen’s has that community landmark thing going on.

Glen’s customers always come back. If you don’t have what they have, perhaps you should add credit card processing to see if that helps give you a steady, lucrative, loyal customer base.

We Can Help

We want to help your business succeed, so we make it easy to implement a credit card processing system. Contact Good Bookkeeping and Consulting at (860) 968-2345 to learn more about our Merchant Services.