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How to Improve Your Financial Decision Making?

What is Financial Decision-Making?

Financial decision-making encompasses evaluating options, making choices, and taking actions related to financial matters. It involves assessing risks, considering available resources, and aligning decisions with long-term objectives. Effective decision-making is essential for financial success, whether managing personal finances or steering a business toward profitability.

Financial decision-making is a crucial aspect of business management. It involves choosing between available alternatives to achieve financial goals. From budgeting to investment choices, every decision impacts financial stability and growth.

Why is Financial Decision-Making Important?

Financial decision-making plays a pivotal role in achieving financial stability and growth. It allows businesses to:

• Allocate resources efficiently
• Mitigate financial risks
• Maximize ROI
• Adapt to changing economic conditions
• Achieve long-term financial goals

Financial resources may be mismanaged without sound decision-making, leading to financial setbacks and missed growth opportunities.

What Financial Decision-Making Strategies Can You Use?

To make informed financial decisions, businesses use different strategies, including:

• Setting financial goals: Clear and achievable financial goals provide a roadmap for financial decision-making. Defining objectives helps prioritize actions and allocate resources effectively.
• Budgeting and forecasting: Budgeting involves estimating income and expenses over a specific period to ensure that financial resources are allocated wisely. Forecasting helps anticipate future financial trends and plan accordingly, minimizing surprises and facilitating proactive decision-making.
• Risk management: Assessing and managing risks is integral to financial decision-making. By identifying potential risks and implementing mitigation strategies, businesses can safeguard their financial well-being and confidently pursue opportunities.

How to Make Better Financial Decisions?

Making sound financial decisions requires a systematic approach and careful consideration of factors such as:

• Gather information: Before making a decision, gather relevant information from credible sources. Analyze financial data, market trends, and potential risks to make well-informed choices.
• Evaluate options: Consider multiple alternatives and evaluate their potential outcomes. Compare each option's costs, benefits, and risks to identify the most suitable action.
• Consider long-term implications: While short-term gains may seem appealing, consider the long-term consequences of your decisions. Assess how each choice aligns with your overarching financial goals and objectives.

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Tips for Effectively Selecting Your Payment Processor

Selecting the right payment processor for your business is critical – who you choose to partner with as a provider will significantly impact your cash cycle. You’ll want to make sure you’re picking a payment processor that offers everything your business needs, and there are several different elements that you should consider as you search for the most appropriate partner:

Features and abilities. Make sure that your processor can handle many different payment methods, or at least the ones that have historically been used in your payment process. Some of the most common payment methods are credit cards, electronic bank transfers via ACH payment, and wire transfers. Your AR department will easily manage payments if your payment processor can exclusively handle all standard payment methods.

Cost. Fees are everywhere regarding payment processor services, and extra costs are essential for your finance team to consider. Here are the most common payment processor fees to look out for:

• Transaction fees
• Annual start-up fees
• Monthly statement fees
• Chargeback fees
• Minimum monthly fees

When considering which payment processor to work with, it’s essential to look at the entire cost of a processing service. Instead of looking at each fee individually, you’ll need to figure out how much your business would cost to operate with a particular payment processor monthly.

The typical pricing structures of payment processors include interchange-plus, flat-rate, and tiered pricing. Each option has pros and cons, so when comparing services, you’ll have to look at the overall monthly cost to evaluate the best payment processor for your business. Source

Credit Card Processing Redefined: How Modern Businesses Can Turn Transactions into a Competitive Advantage

Credit card processing is often treated as a background utility—something that simply needs to “work.” As long as payments are approved and funds are settled, most businesses assume their setup is sufficient. But in today’s global, digital-first economy, credit card processing is no longer just an operational necessity. It has become a critical lever for revenue growth, customer experience, and risk control.

Behind every successful card transaction lies a complex ecosystem of issuers, networks, acquirers, gateways, fraud engines, and compliance layers. When these components are misaligned or outdated, the impact is rarely immediate. Instead, businesses experience gradual declines in approval rates, higher processing costs, increased false declines, delayed settlements, and lost customer trust. 

What Credit Card Processing Really Involves

At its core, credit card processing enables merchants to accept card payments securely and efficiently. However, the process itself is far from simple. A single transaction involves multiple parties working in real time:

• The customer’s issuing bank verifies funds and risk
• Card networks route the transaction
• Acquiring banks handle authorization and settlement
• Payment gateways transmit transaction data
• Risk and compliance systems assess fraud and regulatory exposure

When any one of these layers underperforms, transactions may still “go through,” but at a hidden cost. Declines increase, cross-border acceptance weakens, and scalability becomes limited. Businesses that rely on rigid or single-channel processing setups often don’t notice these issues until growth stalls or expansion fails.

Common Challenges Businesses Face with Credit Card Processing

Many merchants assume that poor approval rates or rising costs are unavoidable. In reality, these problems are usually symptoms of outdated or inflexible processing infrastructure.

Some of the most common challenges include:

• Inconsistent approval rates across regions: A setup that performs well in one market may fail in another due to local issuing behaviors, regulatory requirements, or network preferences.
• High false declines: Overly aggressive fraud controls often block legitimate customers, leading to lost revenue and poor customer experience.
• Limited acquiring options: Relying on a single acquirer or processor creates bottlenecks and increases exposure to outages, policy changes, or sudden restrictions.
• Slow settlements and cash flow constraints: Delayed payouts can strain operational cash flow, especially for fast-growing or high-volume businesses.
• Compliance complexity: PCI DSS, regional regulations, and card network rules require continuous monitoring and updates—something many merchants struggle to manage internally.

These issues don’t indicate failure, but they do signal that the credit card processing model is no longer aligned with how the business operates today.

Why Modern Credit Card Processing Requires a Smarter Approach

As businesses scale, payment performance becomes less about speed alone and more about consistency, resilience, and visibility. Modern credit card processing demands:

• Multiple acquiring routes for redundancy and optimization
• Intelligent transaction routing based on region, card type, and risk profile
• Balanced fraud controls that protect revenue without harming conversions
• Transparent reporting to identify degradation before it impacts revenue
• Infrastructure designed for growth, not just onboarding

This is where many traditional processors fall short. They were built for static volumes and predictable markets, not for dynamic, global commerce.

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5 Best Practices for Using a Credit Card

A credit card can be a useful tool in building up your credit and often used for accessing many everyday services – from booking vacations to renting a car. Credit cards can also lead to too much debt and cost you more money in the long run, if you don’t use them the right way.

Here are Five Best Practices for using a credit card:

1. Pay your balance to $0 each month, if possible. You can use your credit card every month to successfully build up credit. Carrying a balance month to month means you have to make an interest payment, causing you to pay more than what you originally spent. For this reason, each month, you should calculate how much you’ll be able to pay toward your credit card bill, and only charge that amount to your card. Now, of course there will be times when making the monthly payment in full will be difficult or impossible. If you’re going through a period of unemployment or general financial hardship, you may have to put more on your credit card than you can afford to pay back. 

2. Keep your credit utilization (percentage of outstanding credit balance to your credit limit) below 30%.  Credit utilization is a key component of your credit score. This may take some extra math, but you should keep tabs on your balance each month and strive to keep it below 30% of your credit limit. For example, if you have a $1,000 credit limit, you should try to keep your balance below $300. Using 30% or less of your credit limit is favorable to the credit bureaus. Consider this the sweet spot for maximizing rewards and credit-building while avoiding high utilization.

3. Review your statement each month for accuracy and spending awareness. Always review your monthly credit card statement (or check your balance online) for accuracy and to ensure you’re only paying for charges you made. Don’t hesitate to call your credit card provider to discuss unidentifiable transactions. Fraud continues to be a major problem, and if you don’t check your account or you’re used to having high balances, fraudulent purchases can be missed. Look out for monthly charges and expenses that were forgotten and are no longer needed. Subscriptions to streaming services, gym memberships, magazines, newspapers and websites are all common examples of these expenses.

4. Keep an eye out for promotional periods to capitalize on your rewards. Some credit cards have promotional periods in which you’re offered a 0% interest rate or enhanced rewards incentives during a specific period of time. This often happens when you first get a card but you may receive additional promotional offers in the future, as well. Make sure you’re aware of these promotions, as these are ideal times for including purchases you’d normally make another way. Taking advantage of a promotional period is a strategic way to capitalize on rewards or avoid making interest payments. But you should also be keenly aware of when the promo period ends so that you can have your entire balance paid off at that point. Otherwise, you may be looking at a hefty increase in interest paid over time.

5. Stay up-to-date on your credit score. A credit card can help you build a healthy credit score, so make sure you know where you stand. You can also request your credit report from each of the three credit bureaus annually. A credit card is a beneficial financial tool if used responsibly by incorporating these tips. Source

Credit & Debit Card Processing

Who plays a role in a card transaction?

Obviously, you have the cardholder and the merchant, plus each of their banks, which we will call the “issuing bank” (belonging to the cardholder) and the “merchant bank” (belonging to the merchant). The issuing bank is responsible for authorizing the transaction and for sending funds to the merchant bank if the transaction is approved. The issuing bank will then bill the cardholder monthly for their credit card purchases. Meanwhile, the merchant bank holds the account where funds are deposited following a purchase.

Then, you have the middleman – the payment processor. This can be a separate party or sometimes will be the merchant bank. Regardless, the payment processor ensures the funds are transferred from the issuing bank to the merchant bank. Often, the payment processor will offer the hardware or software used to accept cards, such as tap-to-pay terminals or other card-reading devices.

How does card processing work?

There are two stages to credit and debit card processing – authorization and settlement. If a debit card is used, both authorization and settlement happen in seconds with the money coming out of your checking account. If a credit card is used for payment, the account information is routed from the merchant bank by the payment processor to the issuing bank for approval. The issuing bank will either confirm or deny the transaction and the payment processor will deliver that back to the merchant bank and to the card reader.

Unlike the near instant settlement for a debit card, a credit card settlement can take 1-3 business days. This is the process of actually moving the funds from the issuing bank to the merchant bank. Typically, businesses send batches of transactions to their payment processor at a regularly scheduled time, like the close of a business day. The payment processor and the card networks (Visa, MasterCard, etc.) will work to ensure the funds are deposited into the correct account.

Why is card processing important?

To accept card payments, a merchant will need hardware and software, both of which could be provided by the payment processor. Regardless of whether it’s an entire point-of-sale system or just a simple card reader, these devices collect and send card data to the payment processor. In addition, a software app is often needed for processing. These programs can include features such as inventory management, reporting, analytics and the ability to send customers digital receipts. Card processing also comes at a cost for the merchant, so it is important to find a merchant bank and payment processor that keeps processing fees affordable. Source

How To Use Credit Cards Wisely For A Vacation Budget

Whether you’re planning a weekend getaway with friends or an affordable vacation for a large family, your credit card can help you plan sustainably. Taking a break for a vacation can do wonders for your stress level, but the costs associated might not. With the right planning and smart use of your credit card, however, you can create a realistic travel budget so you can enjoy the fun of your vacation worry-free.

Take advantage of welcome offers

If you’re in the market for a new credit card, don’t apply until you’re ready to book your trip. Why? Because new cardholders typically get sign-up incentives and bonuses for spending a certain amount in the first couple of months. These perks could include cash back or a surplus of miles.

Let’s say your card’s welcome offer is $450 in travel redemption when you spend $2,000 in eligible purchases within four months of account opening. You could spend $2,000 on flights, then use the $450 reward for a hotel room, lowering the overall cost of your trip. 

Track spending and get rewards

Using a credit card specifically reserved for travel purchases, you can accurately track spending and stick to your vacation budget. Beyond the welcome offer, many  and discounts on every purchase made. It saves money during your trip and for future family vacations on a budget.

Prepare for the unexpected

No matter how much you plan, surprise expenses can still pop up. So it’s a good idea to have a credit card that you can use for unexpected costs. (Think: last-minute ticket changes, replacement luggage, special souvenirs or spontaneous adventures.) You’ll also need a credit card to book any airlines, hotel rooms or travel company services.

Additionally, many travel rewards credit cards offer benefits, such as fraud protection, rental car insurance and travel insurance. While an emergency is unlikely, the coverage means you won’t pay out-of-pocket or blow your travel budget in worst-case scenarios.

Start saving for vacation early to improve your credit score

Using your credit card can improve your credit score if you pay your bills on time. Create a travel budget and start saving for vacation early. That way, as you take advantage of your credit card while on vacation, you're prepared to pay your bill when you get back. 

While it’s ideal to pay your bill in full every month, consider applying for a credit card with a 0 percent introductory APR. Doing this before booking your trip may allow you to spread travel costs over several months without paying any interest. It’s another way to help plan an affordable vacation for a large family.

Keep your credit card secure

Before you leave, be sure to call your bank and let them know when and where you plan to travel. Or, if you have a U.S. Bank account,  travel notifications within the app. This helps guard against unnecessary fraud warnings or even a possible freeze on your account if the bank suspects misuse. While traveling, it’s important to be on higher alert than usual for credit card thieves. 

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Payment Links: What They Are and How To Use Them

Payment links are a simple way to accept payments however you do business, whether that’s in person, on social media, or through email and text communication with customers.

What is a payment link?

A payment link — also referred to as a checkout link — is a clickable link or scannable code that allows a customer to complete a purchase. Payment links are offered in the form of digital links, buy buttons, or QR codes, and are used across websites, social media platforms, apps, messaging tools, and in person.

When a customer uses a payment link, they’re typically taken to the merchant’s online checkout page to complete their transaction. Payment links can be used for both a single transaction, such as a customer invoice, and for multiple transactions, such as a buy button on a social media platform.

What are the benefits of using payment links?

Payment links facilitate simple online payments and don’t require additional infrastructure, a website, or any code to set up and use. Any merchant can easily create a payment link that takes customers to a straightforward checkout page to complete a transaction.

Payment links are used to:

• Take payments anywhere you sell products or services: Whether you send clients a payment link via text message or direct customers to your online checkout page from multiple social media platforms, payment links allow you to get paid however you do business.
• Customize a purchase: Payment links come in different forms, so choose the ones that work best for the platforms you sell on. Direct payment links work well for customer interactions and conversational commerce, while buy buttons and QR codes work well for online, social, or in-person selling.
• Offer customers multiple ways to pay: Once customers have accessed your payment link, you can accept credit or debit card payments, or digital payment methods such as Apple Pay, Google Pay, Cash App Pay, or Afterpay.
• Keep payments simple: Customers don’t need an account or a special app to use a merchant’s payment link. They can access your payment link from any device for direct payment.

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How To Get Faster Funding And Improve Cash Flow

Everyday Funding is a new funding platform designed to fit the way you do business. This recent innovation provides the fastest free/no-cost funding in the payment industry by making funds available within hours, seven days a week. As a business owner, it can be difficult to financially plan when the time between receiving payments from customers and that cash being made available in your account is uncertain. And you’re not alone. Nearly two thirds of small business owners report that this lag has the largest impact on their company’s cash flow.

The reality is that small business owners need to move faster, be more agile and demonstrate the flexibility needed to thrive in the current environment. Unfortunately, the payments industry has, until recently, struggled to adapt to meet this need. On average, small businesses in the U.S. have $53,399 in outstanding receivables. COVID-19’s impact on the economy and small businesses has made this need for faster funding even more urgent. This challenging climate makes it crucial for small business owners to be able to access their cash quickly, conveniently and on a schedule that fits their immediate needs.

A more efficient funding timeframe will enable small business owners to:

• Pay invoices more quickly
• Track expenses faster 
• Increase cash flow efficiency 
• Access real, hard-post funding during their hours of operation
• Funding that keeps pace with business

This platform allows small businesses to have access to their cash within hours, not days. The quick turnaround can happen within a few hours from when you submit a batch for funding. Most importantly, funding happens on your schedule: nights, holidays and weekends. Whether you need to pay an invoice on a Saturday or submit payroll on the Fourth of July, this flexible funding time frame allows small business owners to work when they need to. While some products may limit funding amounts or settled batch maximums, Everyday Funding removed those limitations to fit the needs of busy businesses. 

Preparing for the future

Cash flow is crucial to the success of any small business, and small businesses are crucial to the success of the economy and our local communities. Everyday Funding is an innovative cash payment service designed to support these businesses by adapting to the realities of their needs. Source

How Payment Choice Can Impact The Customer Experience

Many of us appreciate having choice about how we pay for goods and services. Maybe we like to put larger purchases on a credit card rather than a debit card. Or to use different payment methods for in-store purchases and online shopping. And perhaps we find eChecks handy for paying bills. Offering your customers a range of ways to pay can have a positive impact on their shopping experience. Add in convenience and security, and you can be well on the way to building a loyal customer base and accelerating your growth.

Offer the payment types customers prefer

So, can offering different payment types make your customers happy to shop with you? Whether you sell online, in store, or both, you should try to offer the options that meet most customers' preferences. Your payment processing platform should allow you to accept:

• Debit and credit cards. Card payments are pretty much a must-have for both eCommerce and in-person payments. For in-person purchases, you'll probably want to offer customers the convenience of contactless card payments, too.
• Digital payments. Add more choice by enabling customers to pay using digital wallets like Apple Pay and PayPal.
• eChecks. Ideal for recurring transactions like bill payments and subscriptions, eChecks also offer faster processing and deposits than traditional paper checks.

A smoother payment experience

As well as giving customers choice about how they pay, look for a payment processing platform with additional features that can positively impact the payment experience. In general, most people will choose options that require them to make the least amount of effort. This so-called 'principle of least effort' is widely applied to consumer behavior. So, it's worth considering ways to:

• Make things easier for returning customers. Make checkout faster and easier for returning customers by securely storing their payment information so customers don't have to re-enter their details every time they check out. 
• Simplify recurring billing. A great solution for subscription—and membership-based businesses—customers just set up their payment details once and are automatically charged at each billing cycle.
• Avoid the hassle of expired cards. Save customers the trouble of updating their stored details when they receive a new card. Use a service that automatically updates their card-on-file information to help avoid the friction and lost sales that can have a negative impact on the shopping experience. 

A more secure payment experience

On top of payment choice and convenience, customers also care about the security of their payment information and transactions. If they think a payment method could be risky, they may be less likely to use it—even if it can make shopping easier or checkout quicker.

Investing in secure payment systems and communicating about your security measures can help reduce perceived risk and increase customer trust. Look for a payment processor that helps you store customers' payment information in a PCI DSS-compliant manner.

You should also consider using a fraud detection solution that helps identify, manage, and prevent suspicious and potentially fraudulent transactions to give customers peace of mind and minimize the impact of fraud on your business. Source

Choosing the Right Credit Card Processor: What Every Business Owner Needs to Know

Selecting a credit card processor can be daunting for any business, especially when faced with a myriad of options, from large companies to smaller independent providers. Understanding your needs, the pros and cons of different providers, and key contract clauses can help you make the right choice. This guide will walk you through how to evaluate credit card processors, with insights gained from industry experts.

1. Understand Your Business Needs

Before diving into the details of credit card processors, it's essential to assess your specific needs:

• Transaction volume: How many transactions do you process each month?
• Sales channels: Do you operate in-store, remote / mobile or online?
• Customer payment preferences: Do your customers prefer credit cards, debit cards, or mobile payments?

By understanding these factors, you can narrow down the type of processor that fits your business model.

2. Types of Credit Card Processors

Credit card processors generally fall into two categories: Merchant Account Providers and Payment Aggregators.

• Merchant Account Providers: These companies offer dedicated merchant accounts, meaning your business has its own individual account with the processor. These accounts require the business to go through an underwriting process to verify the business is legitimate and in good financial standing.Independent providers often fall into this category and provide customized solutions for small and mid-sized businesses.
• Payment Aggregators: Companies like Square, PayPal, and Stripe operate as aggregators, where multiple merchants share one large merchant account. These companies are the master account holder and have 100% control of every businesses's processing account. These services are typically easier to set up but may come with limitations and higher costs in the long run. Aggregators do not require underwriting to be approved for an account.

3. Advantages of Working with an Independent Processor

Choosing an independent processor, such as those offered by smaller, independently-owned companies, can offer significant advantages:

• Personalized Customer Support: Independent processors often provide more tailored and accessible customer service compared to larger corporations. James Shepard emphasizes that dedicated account representatives and personalized assistance are often missing with mega processors. When you have an issue, you need fast, reliable help — something independent processors pride themselves on.
• Flexibility and Transparency: Independent processors are more likely to offer transparent pricing and customized solutions that match your business's specific needs. They can work with you to eliminate fees through dual pricing programs and offer more adaptable contract terms.

4. Disadvantages of Using Payment Aggregators

Payment aggregators such as Square, PayPal, and Stripe may seem appealing due to their simplicity and ease of setup. However, they come with several potential downsides:

• Higher Fees: Aggregators often charge higher transaction fees compared to traditional merchant account providers. This can add up quickly, especially for businesses with a high transaction volume.
• Account Stability: Aggregators can freeze or terminate your account without notice, potentially leaving your business unable to process payments. This can happen with little recourse, especially for high-risk businesses.
• Limited Customer Support: Unlike independent processors, aggregators typically offer minimal customer service. If you run into an issue, you may find yourself stuck in a slow and frustrating support process.

5. Watch Out for Contract Clauses with Mega Processors

Many large credit card processing companies include clauses in their contracts that allow them to change the terms without notifying the merchant. For example, you may find a clause stating, "By agreeing to this contract, the merchant understands that [processing company] has the right to revise this contract as deemed necessary without notifying the merchant."

This means that your rates and fees could change at any time, and you're expected to comply. James Shepard advises reading contracts carefully and asking the provider about their process for notifying merchants of changes.

6. Conclusion: Making the Right Choice

When choosing a credit card processor, it's essential to balance cost, customer support, and your business's unique needs. While payment aggregators may seem convenient, independent processors often offer better long-term value, particularly for businesses that need dedicated support and transparent pricing.

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