Question: "What is the best way to gain more bill pay customers?" - Morad Issa, Nada #1

goEBT’s newest C-Store Solution is bringing exciting opportunities for merchants all over the country.  We’ve officially launched a new Bill Pay solution through our partnership with a leader in payments industry, InComm.  InComm has been working hard to develop solutions especially for consumers who need access to alternatives to the most common payment methods like credit and debit cards. Now, goEBT is bringing several of InComm’s solutions to c-stores and small grocery stores around the country by way of an easy-to-use countertop terminal and scanner solution.

While there was once a time when business owners could choose whether to accept credit and debit cards, that time is gone.  Now, if you want to ensure that you are making as much money as possible and able to attract as many customers as possible, you should be accepting as many different forms of payment as possible.  However, making sure your customers can use their preferred method of payment at your store isn’t cheap.  If you’re already accepting credit and debit cards in your convenience or small grocery store, you are likely aware of the cost involved with doing so. If you’re not keeping up with how card processing and payment technology costs are continuing to change, you should be.  These developments could greatly impact your bottom line, and not in a good way.

With tax season officially drawing to a close, that means that more people might have more spending money thanks to their tax refunds. When people have a little more money to spend combined with reduced prices, their impression of their own financial situation improves.

For those who own convenience or small grocery stores in urban areas, there are several unique opportunities to make additional profit outside of the norm of snacks, gas, and beverages.  This is especially true for the store owners whose businesses cater to a heavy population of unbanked people, underbanked people, immigrants, and/or tourists.  These consumers are often relying on cash and usually need quick, convenient ways to do every day things.

"Errors in cash handling can be one of the major causes of cash loss." This means that you and your employees should know the best practices of handling in-store cash. Taking simple measures can improve your bottom line and help you to avoid major loss due to simple errors that add up over time.

In this ever-changing world of technology, millions of people in the U.S. and worldwide enjoy the convenience of mobile banking on their smartphones. Mobile banking is offered by most financial institutions and has grown more popular over the past decade. Mobile technology allows bank customers to perform financial transactions remotely usually through the institution’s mobile app.

The number of unbanked citizens worldwide hovers around 2.5 billion, according to recent stats. This means that there are millions and millions of people who have no access to banking institutions or financial services.

Chances are, some of your faithful patrons fall into the category of unbanked consumers. This means they join approximately 7 percent of Americans who do not have a checking or savings account. Many of these consumers are living paycheck to paycheck and use alternative financial services for their financial needs. But they may benefit from having a traditional bank account that will reduce the fees and extra expenses associated with payday loans, transfer fund services and check cashing.

Millennials and their unconventional approach to traditional processes have had a big impact on the retail and banking industries. Their generation makes up about a third of all convenience store traffic, according to Convenience Store News. This means there’s a big financial benefit in wooing millennial customers and paying attention to their behaviors.