In part 3 of my “Card Acceptance Matters” blog series, I discussed how card acceptance is a factor when buyers select their suppliers.  In this article I’ll discuss how card acceptance can decrease customer churn and why buyers prefer cards.

Suppliers who accept cards for purchases may see an increase in customer satisfaction.  In the MasterCard/Kaiser study, 63% of managers indicated that they would be “more” or “much more” satisfied if one of their existing non-accepting suppliers began accepting cards. This increase in satisfaction has the potential to lead to longer-lasting relationships.  This increase in relationship longevity can facilitate considerable growth in the lifetime value of customers.

Purchasing managers prefer to use card for purchases for a myriad of reasons – all of which may result in more secure and more efficient purchasing than when check or ACH is used.  Cards can provide for protection against unintended and fraudulent purchases, errors, and misuse by employees.  Data provided at the line-item detail level allows for efficient reconciliation, tracking of purchases and oversight of compliance.  Card billing cycles can help to achieve lower working capital requirements, and vendor enrollment processes are often streamlined with suppliers that accept cards.

The study revealed that buyer decision making and purchasing habits are influenced considerably by the card-acceptance status of a supplier.  By opening up card acceptance as a payment option for business customers, suppliers can position themselves to earn higher revenues and better complete against their non-accepting competitors.  Card acceptance can help drive greater revenue consistency and a higher lifetime value of a supplier’s customers. 

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