As essential workers, contractors are constantly struggling to find solutions that will allow them to remain financially viable and competitive, and keep their employees on the payroll. Regardless of their circumstances, virtually all contractors deal with tight margins. The are faced with unexpected fluctuations in the cost of building materials. They must pay their overhead, even during slower seasons of the year. But one simple solution that every contractor can take advantage of is credit card surcharging, which can instantly save as much as two or three percent, or even more, on every credit card transaction.
How it Works
Surcharging is the legal, credit card company compliant strategy of passing credit card processing fees along to the cardholder. Those fees typically take a hefty percentage directly out of each credit card transaction. The amount depends on the contractor’s credit card processing agreement, but is usually around two or three percent. A contracting business doing a $100,000 job, in other words, may willingly forfeit around $2,000-$3,000, which only enriches the bank, not the hardworking contractor. Surcharging eliminates those fees and lowers business overhead, giving vital revenue back to the contractor.
Why Surcharging Also Helps the Customer
With surcharging, the client pays the fees, not the contractor. If customers want to avoid the surcharge, they can opt to pay another way, such as with a cashier’s check, debit card, or in cash. That ensures transparency, which is key component of a contractor’s valuable reputation. But clients benefit in other ways, too. Without surcharging, contractors have to raise their prices enough to compensate for the cost of credit card processing. Those price hikes affect all customers equally, including the ones who don’t pay by credit card. That’s unfair to them, and it also creates unnecessary price inflation. Surcharging levels the playing field, while also helping to curb inflation in ways that are especially helpful in uncertain economic times.
Benefits for Contractors
Most contractors rely on credit card payments because those payments are convenient for both contractors and their clients. They can be securely processed on mobile devices, avoiding the need for a contractor to be in their office in order to get paid. Digital transactions like these can generate automatic invoices and receipts, creating an electronic archive that can be backed-up in the cloud, easily shared, and stored indefinitely. That means more time spent working for the client, and less time spent doing accounting paperwork. Those are great features for a contracting business. With the right surcharging software those features are possible and contractors who surcharge pay zero credit card fees.
Surcharging Popularity is Surging
Considering all the benefits, it’s not surprising that surcharging is on the rise across the Lone Star State. Another reason is that implementation is easy, requiring no technical know-how, extra IT infrastructure, or significant investment. The solution can be deployed through a simple card terminal plug-in that detects when a credit card is used, instantly calculates the surcharge, and adds it as a line item to the client’s receipt. Holding on to hard-earned revenue doesn’t get much easier than that, making surcharging a no-brainer tool that should be in every contractor’s toolbox.
