Cash discounts can make a great addition to a business’s credit processing services. These programs, such as MPX’s No Cost Processing, can yield a number of direct and indirect benefits for your business, making them an attractive option for many merchants. Still, as with any other business decision, whether or not to introduce a cash discount program should be carefully considered.

Whether you're a business owner or not, it's likely you've come across a cash discount program at one point or another. They’re very common at gas stations, and you’ve probably also encountered them at many other small businesses. Given their popularity, it’s natural to wonder if it might be beneficial to introduce a cash discount program for your business. Before making that decision, though, it’s important to understand the benefits of adding a cash discount program to your current credit card processing system.

Below are three major benefits of a cash discount program:

In order for your business to accept credit card and debit card payments, you'll need to open a merchant account. Once you've decided which merchant services provider you'd like to open an account with, you'll begin the application process. During this process, you will most likely be asked to provide your Social Security Number and home address. 

Sharing this information fulfills a legally mandated requirement meant to protect against illicit financial activities and will be required by most major banks or credit card processors that you file an application with.

As anyone who runs a business knows, whenever a customer swipes a credit card, the business is charged a fee to process that payment. In an increasingly cashless world, this means more and more would-be revenue going toward these fees every year, leading many merchants to wonder if they should be passing on that expense to their customers by charging a credit card processing fee, called a surcharge.

But is charging a credit card processing fee legal?

If you run a small business, then you’ve probably considered accepting credit card payments from your customers. With people carrying less and less cash every year, card payments are often more convenient for patrons, and can actually help grow your business. But how do you get a credit card machine?

Unfortunately, chargebacks come along with running a business. And while there are ways to prevent chargebacks, even successful and efficient businesses will experience them occasionally.

Merchant cash advance financing offers a different approach for business owners to receive funds for their organizations. It is not a loan—which obligates you to make a monthly payment until you pay back what you borrowed—but a lump sum of capital provided to you in exchange for a portion of your business’ future credit card sales.

There are a variety of credit card processing solutions available for merchants to utilize, letting them accept card payments, including credit, debit, EBT and contactless, from their customers. Each possesses its own unique attributes. While some are tailored to meet the needs of specific business types, others are viable options regardless of industry.

The Clover® Station is offered by leading credit card processing platform First Data, as well as the merchant services companies it’s partnered with. However, the Clover® Station is not just a payment solution; it’s a management system designed to help merchants overcome daily challenges they face.