5 Benefits of Integrated Payments for Car Rental Firms
Research suggests that around half of global shoppers began using digital payments during the COVID-19 pandemic. Most significantly, the majority of those people have indicated that they intend to continue doing so, even when life is back to normal.
You can probably relate to this. If you’ve been anywhere recently that involved paying for a service or product, you probably used your card to do so. You may even have used your smartphone or watch.
Payments play perhaps the most important role in commerce, and it’s a hot topic within the car rental industry, too.
Here’s why integrated payments sit at the heart of the revolution and why your business should invest in this technology if it hasn’t done so already.
1. No more manual reconciliation
Anyone who has worked behind the counter or in the back office of a car rental firm will probably grit their teeth when they hear the word ‘reconciliation’.
Reconciling your credit card receipts with multiple systems is laborious and susceptible to error. With an integrated payment solution, manual reconciliation becomes a thing of the past.
Joy!
Instead, payment data automatically syncs between your payment terminals and rental software with no manual intervention. And it gets it right – every time.
2. Fewer errors (and better profitability!)
Humans are great at lots of things, but we’re also, well… human. This means we occasionally get things wrong, and when it comes to processing payments incorrectly, that can be quite a big deal.
Double entry, incorrect charging and forgetting to apply payments to the general ledger not only leaves the business with incorrect reports – it can impact your bottom line, too.
Fewer errors and a reduction in chargebacks due to an integrated payment system will help you improve profitability. There are few systems that provide an immediate return on investment of that kind.
3. Super-fast transactions
The key to running an efficient, profitable car rental firm is keeping lines short and customers happy.
This can be aided significantly by the ability to process payments super-fast. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy in that respect; the less time people have to wait for the queue to diminish and their own transaction to process, the more satisfied they’ll be with your service.
4. Flexibility
We’ve all experienced the frustration that arrives when you’re attempting to pay for a product or service but can’t because the merchant doesn’t accept your payment method.
Some of your customers will have cards you’ve never heard of. Some will want to pay with devices that don’t resemble credit cards.
Do you really want to turn them away?
With a modern integrated payment system, you’ll gain access to terminals that are constantly updated to accept the latest payment technology. And that’s because you shouldn’t have to keep up with the incredibly fast-paced world of payments; the technology you have to hand should get there before you’re even aware.
5. Much tighter security
Manual accountancy and payment processing isn’t only slow – it’s also highly susceptible to fraud and cybercrime.
Cloud-based payment processing is far more secure, thanks to the constant updates the platforms must apply to comply with regulations and stay one step ahead of cyber criminals.
If your business becomes the victim of this form of crime, the damage it can do to your brand is unthinkable. For some, it’s an instant business killer.
Investing in an integrated payment solution puts most of this worry to rest. It really is a no-brainer, given the relatively modest outlay required.
Wrapping up
Most of the benefits above have a direct correlation with customer satisfaction. Who’d have thought your payment system could have such a significantly positive (or negative) impact on your business?
If you’re a RentWorks user, your system can link directly to Worldpay to make all of this possible. Contact us to find out more.
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