If your business is cash only, it’s time to reconsider. Cash-only businesses are not as common as they used to be. Especially with the advances in payment technology, you are restricting your potential by limiting your payment options.
How Much Cash Do People Carry?
Did you know that only 49% of people carry $20 or less each day, including 9% who don’t carry cash at all? Furthermore, about 78% of people carry $50 or less. As you can see in the graph below, people do not hold much cash.
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If only half the customers walking into your store can afford up to $20 worth of goods, how many items will you not be able to sell them? As a Los Angeles resident, $20 can barely buy you lunch!
Cash isn’t going away, but trends show that people are carrying it less and less of the time. What do you think is replacing this in popularity? If you guessed credit cards, you are correct!
Credit Card Usage Is On the Rise
How many credit cards do you have? Chances are it’s more than one. Most adults in the U.S. have more than one credit card. Also, the average credit limit is almost $1,500 for Americans with poor credit (read more here). Your marginal revenue will increase when accepting plastic.
Considering the number of perks banks offer to attract new customers, it’s obvious why people are spending more money on their credit cards. Why would I pay cash at the supermarket when I can get 3% cash back when using my credit card?
In a recently published Nilson Report, their analyst’s project that by 2018 cash payment volume will decline by 24% and check payment volume will decrease by 46% in the U.S. That statistic is frightening to those still operating a cash-only business. Simultaneously, card payment volume will grow by over 50%. So the real question is, why not accept credit cards? It’s 2017 people, and it’s time to start accepting credit cards NOW! Otherwise, your business will get left behind.
If you are still reluctant to accept credit cards, I want to know why. Leave a comment or send me a note in the Contact Me page.
In my next post, I’ll dive into some of the main advantages of accepting credit cards. Thanks for reading!