Posted by Sarah Jordan

The Federal Reserve released their 2007 Payments Study on Monday. The study covered 2003 to 2006, finding that all types of electronic payments grew while paper check payments decreased. The annual use of debit cards increased by about 10 billion payments, surpassing credit cards as the most frequently used payment type. The number of Automated Clearinghouse (ACH) payments increased by 6 billion and credit card payments grew by 3 billion. Even as the most common types of electronic payments increased, another noteworthy increase was in the number of checks being processed electronically. Almost 3 billion consumer checks that were written to billers were converted and cleared as ACH payments rather than check payments. The 2007 Federal Reserve Payments Study’s major findings include:

• From 2003 to 2006, electronic payments grew 12.4 percent per year, now making up over two-thirds of all non-cash payments.
• Payments made by debit, credit, or EBT cards constituted over half of all non-cash payments in 2006.
• The number of debit card payments now exceeds the number of credit card payments. (With lower rates, that’s great news for business!)
• ACH payments increased 18.6 percent per year from 2003 to 2006, 38.4 percent of which were checks converted to ACH.

Read the full executive summary of the 2007 Federal Reserve Payments Study

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Technorati Tags: Federal Reserve, electronic payments, paper check, Automated Clearinghouse (ACH), debit card, credit card, business

Posted by Sarah Jordan

The holiday season can either be your busiest or your slowest time of the year. Help prepare for this season by following these simple tips:

Watch Your Cash Flow: If the holidays are the busiest time for your business, then save money from your increased revenue for the slower months ahead. However, if the holidays are the slowest time for your business, then cut your expenses as much as you can and start a reserve when revenue is flowing again for next holiday season.
Sell Gift Certificates and Gift Cards: Almost every business, from dentists to carpet cleaning, can sell gift cards during the holiday season for their services. If the holidays are slow for you, then offer gift cards/certificates at a discount, allowing you to take advantage of holiday buying revenue, and the customer to use later in the year.
Take Advantage of “Down” Time: Host a networking party, update your website, submit an article to a local publication. Every business has its “down” time and it’s a great time to get caught up on tasks that get pushed to the back burner during the busy months.
Attend Holiday Parties: Holiday parties are an excellent way to make new contacts and reach potential clients. Attend as many parties as you can–and don’t forget to bring along a handful of business cards.
Send Holiday Cards and Thank You’s: An important part of the holidays for all of us is to send thanks and well wishes to others. This is also important for businesses. Sending a holiday card with “Thanks for being our customer” is a very simple and inexpensive way to remind customers of your business.

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Technorati Tags: holiday season, Cash Flow, networking party