In a digital world, receiving cash in your business can seem like a hassle. However, it is extremely necessary to still accept cash along with credit cards and PayPal and any other types of payment that your business allows. If you do not accept cash, especially if you have a store front business, you are alienating a whole audience of people that still use cash. In order to keep track of all that cash you will need commercial coin counting machines and other cash management solutions to keep an accurate count of the revenue coming in from cash payments. Here are some reasons why folks may still prefer using cash:
- Identity Theft
Some people are so fearful of identity theft and fraud that they will do everything in their power not to use anything plastic or any kind of computerized payment forms at all. Much of the older generation do not understand how to avoid this kind of fraud and so choose not to even deal with it. Fraud is a genuine problem and can be a big issue at times so you can’t really blame those that are afraid of it. However, whlie they could benefit in some simple training and knowledge, you can help them by simply accepting their cash with no questions asked and make them feel just as accepted and valued as any other customers. The truth is, cash is cheaper for the merchant- there are no fees involved in accepting cash- only the need for commercial coin counter machines or software to keep track of the cash brought in. - Budgets
The envelope system is a budgeting technique where you have an envelope marked for each item. For example, you could have an envelope marked ‘utilities’, one marked ‘savings’ and one marked ‘spending.’ The idea of the envelopes is that you put the correct amount of money you will need for each of the items into the envelope and when it is gone, it’s gone and there’s no ‘transferring’ from another envelope. People who follow this method generally have all their spending money in cash so that when it runs out they stop spending. If you do not accept cash, these people will probably not come to your store because they are trying to reign in the amount of money that they spend on a daily basis and using a debit card is just not an option at this point. - spending
Even if someone isn’t using the envelope budgeting method, having spending money set aside in cash is a lot easier. With all the fees associated with having a bank account, most people try to avoid having multiple accounts so they will leave a checking for paying bills and savings for saving money and then take out whatever they want to spend in cash. This is another budgeting technique that hinders the person from spending to much money and the same is true: if you alienate cash buyers because you don’t want to deal with commercial coin counting machines, you will lose the revenue that could come from people who use these types of techniques. Many times even these kinds of spenders will save up for something so they can spend a lot at once, even if it is in cash so you could be missing out on a large sum of income for your business simply because of not wanting to invest in commercial coin counting machines. - No Card Policies
There are a lot of companies out there that are cash only companies and don’t accept cards. Because of this, there are usually more people that carry cash, or at least cheques, just in case a place that they are going does not accept card. Alternatively, some companies do accept card but there is a minimum amount that you have to spend before you can use the card and this can be very off putting to a buyer. Hence, carrying cash so they don’t have to deal with the pressure to buy more.
If you are weighing the pros and cons of purchasing commercial coin counting machines and cash management systems and books to keep track of cash, know that it is worth it. You could lose a lot if you don’t accept cash.