While many economists compared 2009 to the Great Depression, a more accurate name would probably be “The Great Humbling.” While some jewelers closed their doors, many used their downtime to find ways to cut costs, streamline processes and manage losses. For instance, some businesses innovated by switching to online systems for payment processing in their stores.
Matthew Focht, president and founder of Tru, a consulting firm specializing in payment processing, says that using online payment processing services can improve your efficiency and security while saving you money:
- Save Money: The most common method to process credit/debit cards and checks remains a phone line hooked directly to a terminal. Yet many jewelers are finding that a simple online method to process these same payments can be much more beneficial. Not only are you able to save money on your processing fees, but in many cases you are able to get rid of a dedicated phone line that can easily cost $500 a year or more.
- Improve Efficiency: By processing payments via the Internet, you can speed up your transaction times, pull up reports from every store and every employee and print just about any kind of report imaginable -- from any computer in the world. This makes tracking transactions a cinch and eliminates the need to have employees print, fax and file reports.
- Increase Security: While every jeweler likes to save money, many overlook security. With certain online systems, jewelers are able to assign every employee their own user name and password. Jewelers can also control who is allowed to issue returns. This eliminates employee keying errors and prevents theft from unauthorized returns.
Take The Tip:
Through an exclusive partnership, Jewelers of America members can get great rates on services offered by Tru, including credit/debit card processing, check conversion/guarantee and custom gift cards. Members can also get a FREE copy of iTerminal, Tru’s online processing method, that offers the benefits mentioned above.
Click here for more information on JA’s payment processing benefits.
Or contact Michael Lepore, JA’s dedicated Tru consultant, at mlepore@itstru.com or 877-878-1777, ext. 3.
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