A growing number of people have picked up on the benefits of ditching plastic and paying for things they buy using good old dead presidents. With the money being spent by retailers for card fees, paying with cash should be bound to get you a few bucks shaved off the list price.
Now, retailers are also doing the smart way of dealing with credit card fees. Just take a look at the diagram from GAO below on how banks and card companies make money off merchants:
Because of this, so-called “swipe fees” cost merchants $62.7 billion in 2008. If you’re a merchant, making a little over six figures a year in revenue, a few thousand saved would be quite welcome.
BusinessWeek ran an article for small business owners on how to save on these fees. A few tips are to shop around for merchant processing options when setting up shop and considering buying the machine rather than leasing it like most processors offer.
