Let’s say you had a great day today—high foot traffic and lots of big-ticket sales. Will that money be in your account by the time payroll is due on Friday?
Any small business owner has two main goals when it comes to clearing credit card and check payments—make it easy to reconcile my statements, and get me that money as fast as possible. Reconciling may always be a bit of a chore, but there are some things you can do to make sure your system is set up to get money into your account faster. Here are four things you can do to get your funds as quickly and reliably as possible:
Work with one bank
Which bank processes your credit card payments? If possible, try to consolidate your deposit account and your payment processing at the same institution. This will cut the time it takes to get the money into your account, maybe by as much as 24 hours. Think about it: it can take about a day for money to transfer from one bank to another. Why make your money travel any further than it needs to?
Optimize your host close time
What time does your day officially end? When does your system close out one day and begin the next? Within the Clover system, for example, merchants are defaulted to a close time of 1:00 a.m. Depending on what time your business closes, you might be able to close your day earlier, which could help you get money into your account faster. If you’re a Clover partner, call our support desk. Our team can help you walk through your options to make sure your system is optimized for fast funding.
Make sure your network is bulletproof
Have you ever suffered through a busy day without wifi? If your staff has to hand-key credit card transactions, not only will your processing be delayed, but you’ll end up paying additional interchange fees. Fees could go up from 1.51% to 1.80% or more, and those extra charges will add up quickly. With a Clover system, you can continue taking credit card transactions even without wifi, helping you make sure your funds are processed quickly and without additional charges.
Keep your tech up to date
The U.S. is in the process of transitioning from a swipe-and-sign credit card system to a chip-and-sign system. As of about a year ago, merchants who don’t have the capacity to read chip cards are liable for any fraudulent transactions on chip-based cards. Clover card readers either come chip-enabled or are easily adapted to read chip cards. Make sure your system is up to date with the latest technology, so you don’t run into any trouble with fraudulent transactions.
Any merchant wants to make sure money gets into their account as quickly and reliably as possible. With a Clover system, next-day funding is possible for many merchants. But whatever type of POS system you have, taking a few simple steps can help ensure that nothing delays or interferes with your funding. And that’s good news for any small business owner.
Want funds even faster? Try Clover Rapid Deposit to see the money you’ve earned in your back account in minutes.