Recurring monthly EFT transactions for tanning memberships have been a standard in our industry for a long time. At the moment, contactless payments are especially important not only for membership subscriptions, but for point-of-sale transactions, as well.
If you haven’t already implemented a “card on account” option for processing of touchless transactions, you may want to do so sooner than later. Not only does this minimize physical handling of credit cards or cash, it will also encourage additional purchases. What if one of your salon guests would like to upgrade their UV session or purchase a product and you’re not comfortable with the exchange of cash as a payment type, or even with the swipe of a credit card? If you have a “card-on-account” function available within your current system for your EFT members, you can easily charge the cost of a service or product to the guest’s account on file!
When it comes to credit card payments, either via an EFT or card-on-account transactions, there is a downside of declined payments, however. There are a number of different reasons for credit card declines to include cancelled cards due to theft or loss, outdated cards due to expiration or a change in account info due to fraud experienced by the provider.
The process of obtaining updated info is labor intensive and costly, especially from a time perspective. If you have multiple facilities, this may even deem a full-time position. Obtaining updated account info can require calling customers or sending email or postal mail communications. And, if you actually do reach a customer in arrears, when they are presented with your call, they may opt to cancel their monthly recurring membership altogether.
What is your average monthly decline rate? Want help with decreasing this average in a way that will surely minimize the time you spend attempting to collect updated credit card info from customers whose cards have declined? If your salon management software program has an integrated option that accommodates an automated card updating service, then you are in luck!
An account-updater payment technology connects to credit card companies on a daily basis to fetch updated account info and if available, automatically updates your customer’s account on file. This means the customer’s membership will process without interruption even if there was a change to the card. We all know what this means: fewer declines, more revenue and less time spent contacting customers (with the worst-case scenario of proceeding to the collections process).
There is also a substantial customer benefit to consider. When they subscribe to a monthly recurring EFT membership, they tend to “set it and forget it” and as a result, it’s not going to be on the top of their mind to contact you (and other vendors for which they have similar subscription-based products or services) with updated expiration dates, as an example. An account-updater program ensures that they can continue to take advantage of their EFT membership, avoid rejection fees, and also prevent an understandably awkward position of visiting your salon to be told at the front counter that their membership is on hold, all without having to contact you to manually update their information.
Now more than ever, we need to provide a positive experience for all guests. Offering monthly recurring EFT memberships, the ability to securely charge a card on file, and implementing the account update feature are easy to do. Not only will your bottom line benefit, but you can also be confident in knowing that the guest’s journey is a good one.
At the moment, contactless payments are especially important not only for membership subscriptions, but for point-of-sale transactions, as well.
