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05/08/2009 -
Accepting credit cards is essential for small businesses and merchants, as cash- and check-only signs are a powerful deterrent for the increasing amount of consumers who rely on plastic payment methods. What many merchants do not realize, however, is that their point-of-sale (POS) technology should also include prepaid credit card and gift card processing, both of which are rapidly growing in popularity.
Especially considering consumers' increased desire to control their spending during a recession, prepaid credit cards and gift cards - which allow the most financial control out of any type of credit cards - have performed relatively well in the economic downturn.
A recent study by Mercator Advisory Group found that 18 of the 33 segments of the prepaid credit card market are seeing positive growth; in fact, in one case that Mercator studied, store sales were down by 30 percent while gift card sales had decreased only 6 or 7 percent.
Many types of POS terminals are available that easily accept all types of credit cards, from traditional versions to prepaid, debit and gift cards. Investing in this kind of technology will undoubtedly make a difference in a company's customer base - and bottom line.
