Acquiring a new customer can be anywhere between five and 25 times more expensive than retaining an existing one, depending on which study you believe and what industry you’re in[1]. So, maximising customer retention and minimising attrition and churn is essential.
Card payments are strong in this regard. Regular or recurring payments on debit or credit cards are easy to set up through various channels (face-to-face in-store or remotely via the internet, telephone or post). They then become a hassle-free, set-and-forget way to pay.
Payers have peace-of-mind that the biller will get paid as agreed and on time, giving them uninterrupted service or coverage. Billers secure repeat revenues and reduce the costs of payment collection.
But wait, there’s more…
The biggest challenge with recurring payments is that cards expire or get replaced. If a merchant has stored a customers card details then this will lead to a declined transaction and potentially an awkward phone call to update them.
Using the CashFlows' account updater service means that card details can be validated or refreshed ahead of a regular transaction being presented. That means a higher success rate, less awkward conversations, less opportunities for a customer to cancel an agreement, and a streamlining of your business processes.
Recurring card payments for your industry
How CashFlows can help
We’re direct members of all major card schemes so can set up and process regular cards payments. This means you can take payment without taking card details each time.
CashFlows is also able to support recurring billing through a number of third-party gateways that offer this functionality. To find out more about recurring card acceptance with CashFlows, get in touch today.
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[1] Harvard Business Review, https://hbr.org/2014/10/the-value-of-keeping-the-right-customers