Debits, the good kind!

Debit cards are an increasingly popular method of payment for consumers these days.  They have been a major tender for years now, but as consumers shy away from the debt associated with credit cards, more and more are using their debit cards.

What does this mean for retailers?  Well, most credit card systems will accept debit cards and process them as a credit card.  This works fine, sure, but it may hold hidden costs.  Typically processors charge a flat fee for processing debit transactions.  There is a discount to this fee for using a pinpad to capture the customer's PIN number.  The idea is that a PIN-entered transaction is more secure than a non-PIN transaction, so the processor will give the retailer/merchant a better rate.

So, if you have held off on getting a pinpad due to the cost, now's probably the right time to catch up with the times.  A good pinpad shouldn't cost much more than $200, and if you are handling lots of debit transactions, it could pay for itself in a very short time.

Look into this with your POS provider and make sure you're not paying too much for credit and debit services.