How Small Businesses in India Can Accept Credit Cards?

Once you start a new business in this age, just accepting cash is not enough, even though it's a small business but nowadays people prefer paying cashlessly. Maybe you have started a new business or startup and you are wondering how to accept credit card payments from your customers. Or maybe you have an established business but haven’t yet made arrangements to accept credit card payments but now you want to. The process might seem to be difficult in the beginning but it is actually pretty easy.

In this article, we will talk about how to accept credit card payments for your small business and why it is important for small businesses to accept them. So, let's take a look at it.

Why Should You Set up a System to Accept Credit Card Payments?
How to Accept Credit Card Payments in India?

Why Should You Set up a System to Accept Credit Card Payments?

People are shifting toward digital payment methods nowadays. Digital payment options provide a sense of security to the customer and it is also very easy to pay through digital methods. Whether shopping online or offline, people nowadays prefer digital payment options to pay for the services/products they buy. Therefore, it becomes essential to set up systems to accept digital payments.

Some of the advantages of accepting credit cards are:

• Your business cash flow increases and you don't have to wait long for your payments to process.
• Payments disputes are avoidable if credit cards are taken into consideration in small businesses.

How to Accept Credit Card Payments in India?

To accept payments from credit cards, you will need a machine called ‘Point of Sale or PoS’ machine. The PoS machine is a small device that allows customers to pay to your account directly from their credit cards. Every bank offers PoS machines to licensed merchants. In this article, we will see how to apply for a PoS machine in the State Bank of India (SBI), but the process will almost be the same for all the other banks.

Go To PoS SBI Website

The first step is to go on PoS SBI website. Here you will find about 8 different types of PoS Machines which are:

• PSTN
• Desktop GPRS
• Portable GPRS
• Mobile PoS
• ECR Based Terminals
• Bio-Metric Desktop GPRS
• Bio-Metric Portable GPRS
• NFC Enabled Terminal

Apply For PoS Machine

The next step is to apply for a PoS Machine. Just click on the ‘Apply Now’ button below the ‘New Merchant’ label. You will be asked to fill out a form asking for details about you and your business. Fill out the form and submit it.

Confirmation

If your application is approved, your details will be shared with the nearest branch of SBI. You will be asked to go there with your documents. Your personal and business documents will be checked and verified.

Installation of PoS

After your documents have been successfully verified, a person from the bank will visit your store and set up the payment terminal. He/she will also tell you about the functionalities of the machine and tell you how to use the machine.

And that is it. You have successfully set up a method to accept credit card payments from your customers. Please note that there are only one-time installation charges for the PoS or ‘Point of Sale’ machine and no bank will charge you anything apart from that. All the payments made by customers are directly transferred to your account with no additional fee. This is a very simple process. Therefore, any business, whether large or small should set up PoS for credit card payments.

Conclusion

All the payments made by customers are directly transferred to your account with no additional fee. This is a very simple process. Therefore, any business, whether large or small should set up PoS for credit card payments. Digital payments are

FAQs

What is the best way to take credit card payments for small businesses?

5 best ways to accept credit card payments for small businesses:

• Square: Chances are, you've seen Square being used by many merchants and retailers.
• Stripe: For those with businesses that need to go beyond credit card payments, Stripe is a good option.
• ProPay.
• PayPal.
• Authorize.net.

How many POS terminals are there in India?

PoS terminals in India are: India has more than 4.7 million PoS terminals, as of 2021, to serve a population of over 125 crores. India has the least number of point of sale (POS) terminals among advanced economies and other emerging market economies.

How do I set up credit card payments for my business?

Setting up credit card payments for small businesses: Small businesses can accept credit card payments by using an online merchant gateway like Stripe or PayPal, by setting up a POS system with a merchant account, or by using a mobile card reader to accept credit card payments through a smartphone app.