Don`t Neglect The Humble Check
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Internet commerce is an instantaneous purchase medium. A customer sees the product he or she likes; enters credit or debit card details; the product gets shipped.Simple. No messing
around with mailing out checks, no waiting for the merchant to
cash the check.
For online merchants, too, the process is straightforward and
convenient. There's no waiting for a check to arrive; no worrying
about whether the check is good and no delays in shipping the
product.
Consequently, it is easy for online merchants to assume that
there is no value in offering check payments as a purchase
option. Indeed, in competitive industries where margins are
tight, the sheer time cost and risk involved in accepting checks
makes it an unprofitable choice. And, anyway, everyone uses
credit or debit cards these days. Right ? Wrong.
Here's some facts for all you ecommerce entrepreneurs to
consider:
The 2004 Federal Reserve Payments Study (
http://www.frbservices.org/Retail/pdf/2004PaymentResearchReport.pdf
) shows that checks are still the most popular non-cash payment
method, with a total dollar volume over 20 times that of credit
and debit cards added together. Further, a recent publication by
the Minnesota Attorney General's office indicates that 11% of
Americans have no credit card at all. That figure doesn't even
include the millions more people who are maxed out
on their cards.
Next: Can you REALLY... >>
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