Payment Processing is a very nuanced industry. Every business is different and naturally has different processing needs. That being said, the ubiquitous payment processing solution remains the payment terminal. We wrote initially about terminals a little while back but we wanted to circle back on how businesses access them. We take these things for granted really, not thinking too much about how your favourite pizza shop has its terminal ready for your credit card. But this afterthought can have a big impact on your business and the businesses you love.
Just a quick refresher, there are 3 ways to obtain a payment terminal for your business:
- Purchasing the terminal from the beginning
- Leasing the terminal from your provider
- Renting the terminal from your provider
Business owners can purchase their terminal outright with a heavier upfront investment. Alternatively if business owners don’t want to pay out that higher upfront amount then they can enter into a lease for their terminal and break that number into monthly payments. At the end of the term they would then own their terminal. Finally businesses can rent their terminal by paying a monthly rental fee. Now the big question is:
Why Should Businesses Rent Their Terminals?
- Renting provides flexibility
This could quite possibly be the biggest advantage of renting terminals. Leases are contracts that in essence lock you in with a processor. Even if there’s no contract signed for the processing on the terminal, terminals themselves are typically hardwired to only operate with the provider you lease them from. So for example, if you were in a terminal lease with your provider and another provider offered you a better rate you wouldn’t be able to use that better rate on your current device. You as a business owner then become locked in and lose control over an important aspect of your business: your sales. Purchasing terminals on the other hand may circumvent the contract issue but you’re locked in from the initial investment you make.
Even if processing is hardwired into your terminals, rentals still provide you the ability to control your processing simply because you’re not bound legally to any device or processing. Nothing’s locking you in with a rental and you’re able to run your processing as you see fit.
- Renting can adapt to your business’ seasonality
Leases are non-cancellable fixed term contracts. They run and charge regardless of the activity on your terminal. Some businesses can’t sell in certain seasons. They are seasonal businesses and will even close down during their off times. Leases and purchases don’t take that into consideration and your business ends up still being charged even when you’re not using the device. Rentals can adapt to the seasonality of your business. More often than not you’re able to return the device to your provider and skip those payments while your business is closed. There’s no continuous financial burden, just a model that makes sure you’re charged when you’re actually using their services.
- Leases and Purchases puts the onus of servicing on you
Should your business experience any issues with your device then servicing becomes a more complicated matter with leases and purchases. Since you own the device it becomes your problem to service it. More importantly that means you need to invest more of your precious time and effort into your terminal. Frankly, business owners just don’t have the time to add another thing onto their plate. Rentals enable you to never have to worry about this. You’ll have access to constant support and terminal swaps should anything occur. No more repairs you have to pay for out of pocket and more importantly less time you have to invest into fixing something that’s supposed to make it easier for you to accept sales.
- Rentals open up more cash flow for your business
Now more than ever cash flow and liquidity are crucial for your business. Clearly expenses can pop up out of nowhere and your business needs to be able to handle it. Purchase prices can be upwards of $1000 and that’s just a tough expense to stomach right away. Rentals alleviate business owners of the cash flow burden this can present. Again these rentals are not legally binding so it provides your business with liquidity that’s simply not available with the other acquisition models.
At JAZ Payments we only operate on rentals with our partners. There are no contracts or cancellation fees. What locks in our customers are not pieces of papers, it’s our service. We operate on trust and transparency and that’s more effective than any contract you can sign. We’d love to get your business set up the right way. Contact us today and let’s make sure your business gets the service you deserve.