Certainly, the use of debit cards is on the rise. Litle & Company, a payment processing specialist for the direct marketing industry, reports that debit cards now account for more than 65% of transactions.
The use of alternative payment methods is also on the rise. The best known of these, Paypal, has grown far beyond its origins on eBay. Within the last two months, Paypal sales by third-party merchants have exceeded Paypal sales on eBay for the first time.
Some newer options, such as Bill Me Later and eBillMe, offer online merchants other choices. I’ll write more about these in upcoming posts. In the meantime, start watching for shifts in your customers’ purchase behavior. You may well find that offering new payment options will help capture sales that you might otherwise lose, and lower your payment processing costs to boot.
