What are Cash Discount Programs and how can they help you?
With programs like the Edge Program (combining Cash Discount and Flat Rate Pricing), what the buyer is charged at your register will depend upon whether they are using plastic or cash. Cash payers will simply be offered a discount on their purchase for paying with cash.
Programs like Edge make payments fair for everyone. Customers who do not use credit or debit cards stop having to potentially bear the burden of higher prices for items by receiving a discount for paying with cash. Meanwhile, customers who pay with a credit card simply pay for the item at cost. Finally, you as the merchant are no longer placed in the uncomfortable position of having to charge customers more, simply to potentially make the same profit margin from credit card payments as you do for cash payments.
The Edge Program offers a whole host of benefits for you as a merchant. These include the following.
One low rate on every credit card transaction.
The same profit margins from non-cash payments as from cash payments.
No ongoing monthly or annual costs.
Point of sale system and payment platform software to make the customer checkout process as easy as possible.
No confusing customer receipts.
Edge will even give you all of the signage you will need to promote the program to your customers and get the ball rolling.
A word about legality.
Cash Discount programs are legal in all 50 states. However, the card associations have adopted strict guidelines that address how this type of program should be implemented.
You must post clear, correct signage at the entrance to your business and at the checkout area.
The base amount of the transaction, the cash discount, and the total transaction cost must be clearly printed on your customer receipt.
All items must clearly show two prices, a cash price and a non-cash price.
Your payment processing software should take care of the details, adjusting in real time what the customer will pay and generating a receipt that clearly details your pricing structure.
Did you go into business to make profits to compensate for all of your hard labor? Thanks to innovations like the Edge Program, you can provide lower prices to your customers while potentially making the same profit on card payments as you do on cash payments.
What will your customers think? Do your customers come to your business because they like your service, like your product, like your staff and like you? If not, stop selling on price alone because you are losing money. Cheap customers will eventually go to the next cheapest, it's a race to the bottom. Give great service, great products and make happy employees so your customers will be happy to help you make more money. You'll have better customers, make more money and be much happier.