What forms of payment do you take? Are customers paying differently now than they did in the past?

Credit cards, credit cards, credit cards! We get more credit than we do debit. Though we do try to steer people to debit because it is a smaller percentage that we pay. Not many checks, anymore and what's the green stuff? If I asked the customer right here, she's got two dollars, and a boatload of credit cards. Visa and MasterCard are our largest credit cards, percentage-wise. We do take AmericanExpress, but I've really been looking at the numbers and I'm thinking of dropping them. They set their own rates and a broker can't come into the middle, that's why they are so much more expensive.

Our system is not set up to take credit cards without a signature and we have a brand new system, so that means I'm going to be spending even more money. I've heard of payment by fingerprint and things like that, but our provider doesn't offer them.

When I opened my first, smaller store I only took Visa and MasterCard credit cards. When we moved to a larger location four years later, we added AmericanExpress and Discover. It seems appropriate for the high traffic center we are in. Customers are certainly grateful and we are happy that we can say yes when they ask if we take a certain card. It makes us feel a little more professional. We review percentage points every year and try to find the best deal. Cash and check are certainly easier, but it is a proven fact that customers will spend nearly 200 percent more with a credit card. They are just another cost of doing business. Debit cards are certainly changing the way customers purchase but check writing is still going on. Occasionally we will get a large purchase with all cash, but it is rare.

The days of taking a goat, a bag of corn or firewood for payment are long gone. In-house charge accounts have just about disappeared. Even though I've been known to accept an I.O.U., this too is from another era. Today, Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express are the most common forms of payment. Unfortunately, we are becoming more of a cashless society. Cash (now it's the debit card) and checks have taken a backseat to charge cards.

Many stores shy away from offering American Express because of higher processing charges. However, corporate customers often prefer American Express, so it may be worth calling American Express management, explaining the situation and asking if they can offer a solution to reduce the rates. For example, Hallmark Cards has special terms for their dealers.

Paypal has the lion's share of payment processing for Internet sales. Stores that have a small website and don't want to use a Paypal-type service should consider using a fax number as a way to accept charge card information. They can save money by combining this with the charge card line.