I’ve had a credit card merchant facility for my business for almost 20 years, and I recently saw some alternative options that would make it cheaper and more convenient. I investigated two options, and had two very different experiences …
Scenario #1: New merchant account with my current bank
Four phone calls …
45 minutes on hold …
3 new forms to fill in …
Have to actually go into a branch and line up …
Two weeks later – still not resolved!
Scenario #2: New merchant account with Square
Walked into OfficeWorks and bought the card reader for $19 …
Signed up online in 10 minutes …
Selling products the next day!
(Image: Rosenfeld Media)
This is not just a complaint about the bank …
I’m sure the bank – one of Australia’s Big Four/Five – thinks they are a leader in their industry, and offering a world-class product and superior customer experience. But they’re not. They’re just not.
Perhaps they are doing a good job compared to their traditional competitors.
And perhaps their customer satisfaction scores are still on an upward trend.
And perhaps they have customers who would still rather deal with a traditional provider.
But they just don’t hold a candle to an upstart like Square, which doesn’t play by the same rules, and offers a far better product and experience.
What is the equivalent in YOUR industry?
It’s no longer good enough to be better than last year, or even in the top in your industry. The businesses that survive in the future look outside their industry as well, and know how to compete with the upstarts that could disrupt the industry from outside it.
