Credit and debit cards offer consumers a chance to make purchases online, and they are highly convenient. Business owners are told that if they are not accepting credit and debit cards, they are losing their customers to their competitors. The truth is that showing people how to pay by echeck is even more advantageous to consumers and retailers alike.
More People Pay with Check than Credit or Debit Card
Only 10 percent of the buying population is making purchases by means other than a check. By not allowing their customers to pay by echeck, it is actually the retailers who are focusing on accepting credit and debit cards that are losing money. The fact is that 70 percent of the buying population does not make purchases with credit or debit cards. These numbers make it clear that those who learn how to pay by echeck can begin to make more purchases online.
EChecks Do Not Require a Trip to the Bank
Making purchases with an echeck makes paying for products and services easier for consumers, but retailers find that accepting payment in this manner is much easier than accepting a paper check. With echecks, retailers do not have to take the check to the bank. They can send the consumer’s account and routing numbers to the banks electronically and never need to set foot inside.
Payment Can Be Accepted from Remote Locations
Retailers can also accept payments from remote locations on the telephone or through the Internet, and these payments will be processed in a much faster manner than if the retailer had to wait for the check to come in the mail.
ECheck Transactions Are Less Expensive
Every time a retailer accepts a credit or debit card as payment, the card issuer charges the retailer a transaction fee. With several transactions throughout the day, the amount the retailer pays in fees can add up to a significant amount. Accepting payments by echeck eliminates many of these fees. Check processing will require payment of a fee per check, but it will not be based on the amount of the check.
Recurring Payments Are Possible with ECheck
Payment by echeck is even better for companies that accept recurring payments. Since most people are not owners of credit or debit cards, it can be a hassle for these consumers to send in a check every month. Once these customers give the company their account and routing numbers and authorize them to take payments by echeck, the retailer does not have to send monthly bills and process paper checks.