Accepting Credit cards?
When we accepted credit cards for massage therapy, we used Pro-Pay. They were decent, good for low-volume, which we were. We got what I call the slider, that makes the imprint on the card. I noticed a few things business-wise...
1.) People tended to tip a bit more using the credit card. But not always. Some of my cash clients tipped just as well, or better.
2.) The type of clientele that paid with a card wasn't quite as dedicated as those who paid cash. I definitely noticed a difference in the overall vibe of the clients themselves. Those who wrote checks tended to fit in more with the cash-vibe.
3.) We liked Pro-Pay because we didn't have to have a phone line or a terminal; we could do it all online, including with outcalls.
4.) We liked that we didn't have to do a high-volume business just to make it a good deal.
5.) We didn't like that they wanted to charge us more for anything more than a superficial total of income run through their system for the year (? I think). It didn't break it down into individual transactions unless we wanted to pay a good sum per statement.
6.) I liked being able to secure an appointment with a credit card, but I didn't like the vibe that started to prevail over our own practice by doing so. I felt I had become a snippy babysitter. Although I was dealing with a clientele that might have necessitated that approach...dunno. I'm far away from there anyway.
7.) Accepting credit cards did make my bookkeeping more complicated, because no longer could I just put cash and checks in a bank bag and deposit it; I now had to look at another source for another income total.
8.) Accepting credit cards in general opened us up to the possibility of a chargeback, which did happen once when a client with a gift certificate canceled an appointment 30 mins out (for a couples' massage that took lots of time and effort to set up for and we had already scheduled other people around that time slot) and true to the caution written on the gift certificate, we voided it, and she reversed the charges on the credit card. We did eventually win the chargeback, but it took forever.
I eventually decided to stop taking credit cards. My dedicated people didn't care. The flakes went away. That was just my experience, I'm sure it's different for others.
In our current business, an alternative medical office that does Functional Medicine, nutritional counseling, chiropractic AND massage therapy, credit cards are a necessary evil. We don't currently accept them, as we're just getting started and we're researching the options out there (we're going to have to have a terminal; Pro Pay probably won't work for us in this instance). But we order blood lab work and whatnot, and some of that gets pretty pricey, so we don't expect ppl to fork over that much cash (although they probably could write a check for it...dunno), so we'll offer them the plastic option. Maybe a cash discount isn't a bad idea? Say 5-10%. Just an idea.
I think that as an MT it IS possible to run a fine practice without taking credit cards. It saves a lot of hassle. There are pros and cons either way. I think it IS important, though, to let people know when setting the first appointment what methods of payment you accept. That way, there's no question.
Hugs,
~Jyoti
When we accepted credit cards for massage therapy, we used Pro-Pay. They were decent, good for low-volume, which we were. We got what I call the slider, that makes the imprint on the card. I noticed a few things business-wise...
1.) People tended to tip a bit more using the credit card. But not always. Some of my cash clients tipped just as well, or better.
2.) The type of clientele that paid with a card wasn't quite as dedicated as those who paid cash. I definitely noticed a difference in the overall vibe of the clients themselves. Those who wrote checks tended to fit in more with the cash-vibe.
3.) We liked Pro-Pay because we didn't have to have a phone line or a terminal; we could do it all online, including with outcalls.
4.) We liked that we didn't have to do a high-volume business just to make it a good deal.
5.) We didn't like that they wanted to charge us more for anything more than a superficial total of income run through their system for the year (? I think). It didn't break it down into individual transactions unless we wanted to pay a good sum per statement.
6.) I liked being able to secure an appointment with a credit card, but I didn't like the vibe that started to prevail over our own practice by doing so. I felt I had become a snippy babysitter. Although I was dealing with a clientele that might have necessitated that approach...dunno. I'm far away from there anyway.
7.) Accepting credit cards did make my bookkeeping more complicated, because no longer could I just put cash and checks in a bank bag and deposit it; I now had to look at another source for another income total.
8.) Accepting credit cards in general opened us up to the possibility of a chargeback, which did happen once when a client with a gift certificate canceled an appointment 30 mins out (for a couples' massage that took lots of time and effort to set up for and we had already scheduled other people around that time slot) and true to the caution written on the gift certificate, we voided it, and she reversed the charges on the credit card. We did eventually win the chargeback, but it took forever.
I eventually decided to stop taking credit cards. My dedicated people didn't care. The flakes went away. That was just my experience, I'm sure it's different for others.
In our current business, an alternative medical office that does Functional Medicine, nutritional counseling, chiropractic AND massage therapy, credit cards are a necessary evil. We don't currently accept them, as we're just getting started and we're researching the options out there (we're going to have to have a terminal; Pro Pay probably won't work for us in this instance). But we order blood lab work and whatnot, and some of that gets pretty pricey, so we don't expect ppl to fork over that much cash (although they probably could write a check for it...dunno), so we'll offer them the plastic option. Maybe a cash discount isn't a bad idea? Say 5-10%. Just an idea.
I think that as an MT it IS possible to run a fine practice without taking credit cards. It saves a lot of hassle. There are pros and cons either way. I think it IS important, though, to let people know when setting the first appointment what methods of payment you accept. That way, there's no question.
Hugs,
~Jyoti
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