Do you still pay for your purchases using cash? If so, you’re missing out on a myriad of benefits. When you use credit cards as your methods of payments, you build your credit score, get to easily track your expenses online and enjoy the ability to make payments on balances over time. We’re just scratching the surface here! Let’s look further into why credit cards are a highly favoured payment option.
They protect you against fraud.
Let’s say you lose your credit card and someone else manages to use it to make purchases. Are you liable for those purchases? As you’re likely aware, the answer is “no”. Credit card companies do great jobs protecting their cardholders against fraud. Even if the individual fraudulently using your card starts making purchases on your card right away, you won’t lose money since cardholders aren’t responsible for fraudulent charges.
“If your credit card is hacked – which happens pretty often – money isn’t coming out of your bank account, and you don’t have to pay for bogus charges,” informs David Weliver of Money Under 30, “While debit card fraud is eventually refunded, that money still comes out of your account at first. This is one of the big reasons you should rethink using your debit card as your primary form of payment.”
They offer rewards.
One of the top benefits of using a credit card is the additional perks it offers you. When you pay for a purchase with cash, you simply get the item or service you purchased. That’s it. With many credit cards, you earn points for the amounts you have spent. Those points often turn into such rewards as airline tickets, car rentals and hotel stays.
“I have taken two round-trip flights to Florida free with one of my cards,” reveals Sandra Quadros Bowles for Hanscom Federal Credit Union, “Rewards cards can pay you back in airline miles, gasoline or cash, to name a few possibilities. You earn your rewards based on your spending, so if you pay your balance in full, the rewards won't cost you anything. So make a big purchase, pay it off by the due date, and you, too, can enjoy the Florida sunshine...for free!”
They provide purchase protection.
What happens when you pay for a purchase with cash and the item is lost or stolen? Generally, nothing can be done about it. You really have no recourse when it comes to replacing your purchase. However, when you pay for a purchase with a credit card, it offers you purchase protection. In many cases, that means getting a refund or a replacement. As well, many credit cards offer warranties to protect your purchases from malfunction or damage.
“If a merchant doesn’t come through, you’ll get your money back,” promises Weliver, “For example, I have a friend who put a $1,000 deposit on a piece of furniture he never got because the company went out of business. They took his deposit, but because he put it on the credit card, the bank refunded it.”
Do you accept credit cards in your store?
At Unity Payments, we proudly offer Canadian merchants a variety of high-quality payment terminals to enable them to accept credit cards and debit cards. They include the Poynt Newland 910, the Ingenico Desk/5000, the Ingenico Move/5000 and the Poynt C Smart Terminal. To learn all about your options, please don’t hesitate to call us at 1-800-661-3761. You may also email us at info@unitypayments.ca.
