Renowned physicist Stephen Hawking once said “Intelligence is the ability to adapt to change.” This is very true in the educational field as educators and students alike have been forced to adapt to things like the internet, smartphone technology, and e-books. It also can translate to the business world.
In most cases consumers do not consider the changes a business must adapt to in order to remain competitive. Things like offering wifi service and outlets for consumers to charge electronic devices on was not in a business’ thought process five years ago, but are now things consumers seek out when looking for things like coffee shops to go to. Consumers enjoy these luxuries, but in most cases have not considered the culture coercion it places on small business owners.
Businesses fear losing their customers so they adapt to their needs to provide them with a pleasurable experience, even if their risk to reward is questionable. Airlines offer seating in airport terminals with USB adaptors attached to them that allow riders to charge their smartphones before boarding, McDonalds offers free wifi for anyone eating in their restaurants, and Starbucks recently launched an application that lets users pay for their order with their iPhone.
These businesses all show their intelligence by adapting to technology and the consumer demands that they come with. None of the businesses knew what the level of success was going to be for these launched campaigns, but it is safe to say they generated more come-back customers out of them. Not every advancement a business must adjust to is in best interest of their customers, rather some decision’s in the past were made based on the interest of the business. Location to open is the oldest and most universal decision an entrepreneur has to make. But once you decide that other decisions also need to be made.
The old way was not convenient to a business, especially a small one, as funds often took days to receive. This could be potentially harmful to a small business who is awaiting a reimbursement for a large transaction. This caused a tough decision to be made for any small business owner.
Since 1979, businesses of all types were faced with the same decision on credit card acceptance. It was in that year that Visa created the first electronic data capturing credit card terminal. It was a huge advancement from the manual card imprinters as it sped up the transaction and made it more secure and easier for businesses to accept credit card payments. The time it took for funds to get into an account was shortened, allowing smaller businesses that were on a tighter budget to explore the benefits of accepting credit cards.
There have been a variety of credit card terminals since the first imprinter. They have gone from slow dialup connections that required a cashier to manually enter the credit card number to tap and go machines. The range of machines offered from companies such as North American Bancard makes it easy for a business to adapt to accepting credit cards. They offer machines that run through dialup, high speed and wireless connections. These advancements make it easier for any industry to accept credit cards.
It wasn’t until recently that companies like Pay Anywhere developed a device that turns a smartphone into a credit card terminal. Pay Anywhere is backed by North American Bancard who is currently helping over 100,000 merchants with their credit card processing needs.
Thanks to developments like Pay Anywere, businesses have more choices than ever to process credit cards and need to adapt to this industry before it’s too late. This advancement in the industry makes accepting credit cards more cost and energy efficient. Mobile credit card processing makes it easier for a business to adapt to the change in the merchant account industry.
