Feature:
Improve Cash Flow with Virtual Credit Card Processing

Not surprisingly, many of the same small businesses that struggle to find the time to keep up with technology upgrades – ranging from operating systems to accounting packages – are often guilty of still relying on old style payment acceptance methodologies (cash or check, only please).

While a standard credit card terminal may be a fit for the dry cleaner down the street or the local coffee shop on the corner, a business that provides consultative services or products to be delivered at a future date may not think that credit cards are a fit much less an option. However when services are delivered or transactions are completed over a long distance, online or in other scenarios where a business may not be able to see their customer, virtual terminal payment processing can be a great solution.

Virtual terminal payment processing utilizes a payment gateway to facilitate the transfer of information between a payment portal (such as a website or IVR service) and the front end processor or acquiring bank, quickly and securely.

The easiest way to explain the virtual system is to imagine a credit card terminal that exists for your business in theory only, meaning that there is no hardware sitting on your desk. Instead, when it comes time to accept payment, the business owner logs on to a secure website to complete the credit card transaction.

A virtual terminal provides all sorts of advantages that the physical terminal cannot provide. The most powerful one is the ability to set up a client on an automatic recurring billing cycle.

An attorney (as an example) who works on a retainer can simply instruct the system to charge the client’s credit card at a future date agreed upon by both parties. This can be set for just one or two future transactions or it can be set up to charge the credit card on regularly scheduled intervals.

This alleviates the need for several administrative expenses including invoicing, collections and postage while improving cash flow and negating slow payers.

In an era when savvy business owners are turning over every rock to find ways to save time and money, it is no wonder that credit card acceptance among small businesses and non-retail establishments is slowly becoming more the rule than the exception.

Todd Rome is the Director, BankCard Services, for Southern Lending Solutions, LLC. You can reach Todd at Todd@southernlendingsolutions.com.

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