If you own a bar, restaurant, cafe, salon, spa, or other tip-accepting business and have made the switch to EMV chip cards, it could be costing you more than you realize. If you answer yes to any of the questions below, call us at 440-853-6710. We specialize in creating a custom solution for your tip-accepting business that will keep customers, staff and your bottom-line happy. Haven't heard about the switch to EMV chip card technology yet? Don't worry. Get caught up with our blog post: "Does Your Business Need EMV (Smart Chip) Terminals?"
1. Is EMV Costing You Tips?
The difference between swiping a magnetic-stripe credit card and dipping the EMV chip cards is a lot more than the movement of your hands and the time it takes at the terminal. When you swipe a magnetic stripe card your credit card terminal or POS system authorizes the card and makes sure funds are available and stores the data, allowing you to come back and add a tip to the transaction after the card has been swiped. With an EMV chip card the transaction, and the final amount is authorized, a unique code is generated and nothing but that unique transaction ID is stored in your system - making it impossible for you to add a tip after dipping the card.
It sounds more secure if you're a credit card holder worried about data breaches that have resulted in stolen credit card information. It's also a benefit to customers skeptical that bars, restaurants, salons, spas and other tip-accepting venues are adding the wrong amount, but it can be a nightmare if you own one of these establishments and want to keep business going as usual. Let's face it, your servers, cashiers and other transaction processing staff have enough to juggle, now they have to make sure if the card has a chip that they ask about the tip before running the transaction!?! ......Awkward.
At Renaissance Solutions Groups we specialize in providing merchant services to hundreds of bars, restaurants, salons, spas, pizza shops, cafes and other tip-accepting merchants from the Cleveland, Ohio metropolis to Detroit, Michigan. And we're traveling to your cafe, your massage center, your restaurant, etc. to make sure that the switch to EMV is working, that your staff is trained and that you're not missing out on tips as a result. We have already implemented a handful of solutions to allow tip-accepting clients to basically keep processing tips like before, but with the added security of the EMV chip card technology. Call us at 440-853-6710, or fill out our contact us form to learn more.
2. Is EMV Costing You Your Staff?
So let's say you own a restaurant in a competitive area like Cleveland or Detroit where your friendly, welcoming and attentive wait staff make all the difference in attracting loyal customers and 5-star reviews. Now imagine that your merchant services provider hasn't been attentive to your business. You switched all terminals to the EMV chip card process in order to protect yourself from fraudulent transactions and protect your customers from stolen credit card data.
The problem? Without the implementation of a new process, and the proper training that goes along with it, your wait staff are delivering the bill after the meal, the customers give their chip card over, and your phenomenal wait staff returns with a receipt - no line for a tip. If the customer doesn't have cash, they can't leave a tip. Many customers are still writing the tip in after the transaction has been processed, but it's too late. Your waiter or waitress didn't receive a tip - a major motivator for them working at your restaurant! How many times will they miss out on tips before deciding to work at your competitor's restaurant who has likely implemented a solution?
3. Is EMV Costing You Your Customers?
In order to accommodate the tipping process with EMV chip card, some restaurants, bars, spas, salons and other tip-accepting local businesses are asking the customers, at the point of the transaction, how much they would like to tip. In the scenario above, the waiter or waitress would deliver the bill, see the customer was using an EMV chip card and ask the customer - "Oh, you're using a chip card. That means we process the tip at the same time. Would you like to leave a tip for the service provided tonight?" How awkward for the customer! Or imagine they're checking out after receiving a massage, a manicure, or a hair cut and there's a line behind them - "would you like to tip your hairdresser?" This can put the customer in a very uncomfortable position as they are no longer afforded the privacy of reflecting on their service and calculating appropriate adjustments. Is that customer going to come back? If this is happening at your tip-accepting business, call our specialists to implement a unique solution that allows your customers the privacy they have become accustomed to.
4. Would Switching to EMV Cost You too Much?
At Renaissance Solutions Group we enjoy a large amount of clients in the pizza shop and smaller cafe industries, and our current clients frequently refer other similar businesses because they're happy with our recommendations. We have recently run across a handful of pizza shops and cafe owners that are being told the switch is mandatory, and that they need to update their terminals and/or POS equipment so that they can implement the mandated EMV chip card transactions. Many of these pizza shops have more than a couple terminals between delivery drivers equipped to take credit cards and multiple work stations - costing them an unfathomable amount to simply become compliant. That can be too much when your average transaction is $12 and only 25% of your transactions involve a chip card. First, the switch is not mandatory. It's important to understand that if you do not switch to an EMV-equipped terminal that any fraudulent charges made on a chip card that were processed using the magnetic stripe instead of the chip will not be insured by the bank. However, when weighing the cost……to be EMV chip card compliant against the potential $12 fraudulent charges, a pizza shop would have to take over 660 fraudulent chip cards to make up for the cost. It's a decision that should be made carefully and not by a merchant services provider telling you the switch is "mandatory" but by one that encourages you to consider the advantages and disadvantages and Renaissance Solutions Group is happy to implement the right solution for your business.
Whether you own a local pizza shop, a hair salon or a restaurant, there are solutions for your business when it comes to accepting EMV chip-card transactions. Let Renaissance Solutions Group learn more about your business so that we may make the proper recommendations for your tips, your staff, your customers and the bottom-line of your business. Call our merchant services specialists at 440-853-6710, or fill out our contact us form, and we look forward to being your merchant services partner through the EMV chip-card transition and the future of credit card processing.