Level III Processing, B2G, P Cards and Commercial Cards - Just Do It!
Posted by Sharon Robb on Wed, Sep 21, 2011 @ 09:30 AM
Onvia estimates that "government spending accounts for one half of every US dollar spent or half the nations Gross Domestic Product." So...if you're a B2B merchant who wants to increase sales, well....local, state and federal government is looking good.
They also advise Level III payment processing capability for any merchant or supplier who hopes to do B2G business. The government, like an increasing number of small, mid and large businesses uses commercial and purchasing cards (p cards) for purchases of all sizes. If you are a supplier or merchant in this arena, it's time to get a move on and be a part of your customers procurement management solutions.
Other events continue to point to your customers need for effective management of working capital and overall improvement in operational efficiency. Take the pending insolvency of the United States Postal Service (USPS). Alex Husted - who directs the catalog business of a global imaging and photonics company says in a recent B2B article that he is "anticipating double digit postal rate increases ANNUALLY and then tops it off with the of course foreseeable "expectation of increasing paper prices". The questionable future of mail delivery and rising costs continue to create genuine niche sales opportunities for our merchants. Time to "embrace card payments" by incorporating Level III processing in your web, print and social media sales channels. It's a benefit to your customer.
Besides new customers and increased sales what else is in it for our merchants? Lower interchange rates for p cards and commercial cards. Yes, lower payment processing costs through special interchange rates provided by Visa and MasterCard when accepting these unique cards, centrally billed to the organization using them, with Level III processing. Merchants can save 30% to 50% on these transactions which encourage increased data that supports industrial buyers and keeps fraudulent card use low.
Level III processing requires purchase transactions to have more line item detail than other types of processing such as tax ID's, invoice and order no#s, item descriptions and codes, quantity, freight, etc. SAAS solutions such as 3 Delta Systems are high performance B2B/B2G payment platforms that meet secure, complex payment processing requirements, reduce costs and risk and increase productivity.
The writing is on the wall. If you are a merchant currently selling in a B2B environment that does not process payments via a Level III processing solution, your cost of processing commercial and p cards is probably astronomical and a seriously quantifiable detriment to your daily cash flow. If you think you have a service or product for the B2B market, using Level III payment processing provides your customer with the increased data needed for efficient, cost effective operations and cash management. If your competitor provides it and you don't...well.
It's a sales tool. Use it and grow.