Accept Credit Card Payments: Why Customers Prefer Credit Cards Vs Other Payment Methods

If you do business online, the most important part of it is to be able to offer your customers the most convenient way to pay for their purchases. In the past decade, buying on-line has become a global trend, with millions of transactions happening every day. And, of course, the payment methods that customers use to pay for a product have diversified. In the beginning credit cards were the only option, but now there are several websites, such as PayPal or Moneybookers that offer other payment solutions and have become very popular. Some online vendors accept only these e-wallet payments without a direct credit card payment option without thinking that they might lose customers. Credit card payment is still a preferred payment method for most online customers. Find out why customers use credit cards more often compared to other payment methods: 1. No need to register anywhere - there is no need for a customer to register or have an account on any of the websites to complete the purchase (unlike with e-wallet payments). 2. Fast and convenient – credit card transaction is processed within seconds once your customer enters card details on your checkout page. An order gets approved or declined instantly. Unlike with echecks or bank wire payments, the order can be shipped immediately after the payment, because the funds are deposited instantly to a vendors merchant account. 3. Fraud protection - credit card companies offer customers a better protection against fraud and it enables you to chargeback if the merchandise is not what you expected. So customers are more protected when they buy online and they feel safe when ordering a product. 4. Additional security layers - Visa and Mastercard have developed special Verified by Visa and Mastercard SecureCode programs that add an additional security layer for all card purchases. Once this feature is implemented, the customer is asked to provide a certain password during a purchase. This ensures the safety of an order – that card is used only by the authorised person. Customers feel safe when they order your product. It is proved that having this feature working on your website will bring you more sales. At the same time you – as a vendor – are protected from the majority of possible chargebacks with ‘I didn’t do it’ reason. 5. Get rewarded - customers are also likely to get reward points from their credit card banks for using a card often, which can bring them benefits in the long run. So they prefer to use cards even more. 6. Pay in credit - your customers can pay you using their credit card limit – even if they don’t have enough funds at the moment by borrowing money from a bank. This increases your sales even more. 7. Get more international customers - if you sell online internationally then your foreign customers will be more likely to pay using their credit cards than any other payment method. So it is a must for you to accept card payments in order not to lose potential customers. Direct credit card payments account for around 50% to 85% of total online orders. This percentage depends on your industry and niche. If your product is more oriented towards the majority of people that don’t spend much time online, then you will get much more credit card orders compared to Paypal or any other payments. Moreover, US based buyers tend to use more e-wallet type of payments compared to international customers – from the Western Europe, etc. If you are serious about online business, you should be offering as many convenient payment methods as possible. This way your customers will have a better choice to complete their payment and they will select the most suitable payment method. Offering credit card payments along with Paypal will definitely increase your sales compared to only credit card payment option, so make sure your online shop always offer the most popular payment methods. Then your customers will not have any problem placing an order on your website.