If you want to succeed in business in the 21st century, you have to accept credit cards. After all, there are more than 500 million credit and debit cards in the U.S. alone. It’s gotten to the point where people don’t even carry cash – or, at least, don’t carry very much of it. The last thing you need is to turn away customers because they can’t pay with plastic.

Accepting credit cards means working with a merchant provider. If you’re working with a good one, you’ll get to take advantage of these 3 things:

1. Online credit card acceptance

If your merchant provider can only help you with sales right at your cash register, you’ve got the wrong one! After all, the world wide web has made shopping a 24/7 experience. People are used to buying practically anything they want, at any time of the day or night. If you can’t provide online credit card acceptance, you’re going to miss out on countless sales and profits.

Instead, all of your competitors – who have fully-functioning websites – are going to scoop up all the business.

That being said, it’s not good enough to have any ol’ online credit card acceptance system in place. You need a system that’s totally state-of-the-art – complete with fraud monitoring, encryption, and 27/7 technical support.

2. A wireless credit card terminal

Does your business ever make deliveries? Do you ever set up a booth at trade shows or street fairs? If so, you’ll need a way to accept credit cards on the go – meaning you’ll need a wireless credit card terminal.

These terminals use the same technology as your cell phone, so as long as you’re in a spot with service, you’ll be able to process credit card payments. A good wireless credit card terminal will even come with a tiny printer, so that you can print out receipts right on the spot!

3. “Extras”

There is a lot of competition in the credit card processing world. A good merchant provider understands this, and, as a result, will offer you “extras” in order to get and keep your business.

If you’re working with a good merchant provider, you can expect to get things like a free credit card terminal, a discount on your online services, or lower introductory fees. By getting things like this – especially the free credit card terminal – you can save money and improve your bottom line!