How To Encourage Your B2B Customers to Increase Credit Card Usage

As the owner and operator of a B2B company, you likely don’t care how your customers pay their balances. You’re happy as long as they pay and do so regularly. However, encouraging buyers to increase credit card usage helps you grow more efficient and gets you paid faster. 

Doing so requires educating customers about what’s in it for them and how an uptick in credit card usage benefits their company as much as it benefits yours.

Why You Should Accept Credit Cards

Accepting credit cards is effective in accelerating cash flow and enhancing the customer experience. Giving your customers flexible payment options also encourages them to stop using checks, which eliminates the risk of fraud and the time it takes for checks to arrive in the mail and clear. 

Cards also simplify the payment process for your customers, aiding in retention and helping you recruit new business. If you choose to automate your AR (accounts receivable) process, customers will be able to set up and manage digital wallets. Rather than having to re-enter their card information every time they pay a bill, your customers can pay invoices by simply clicking a button. Your customers will appreciate a process that’s hassle-free and easy and will have no trouble making prompt payments. 

You and your customers can enable features like AutoPay, which enables you to draft recurring fees from your customer’s chosen payment method on the same day each month. You get paid on time consistently, allowing you to better forecast cash flow, while preventing your customers from getting hit with late fees. 

Here are some ways to encourage credit card usage:

Emphasize the Benefits

Your customers look to you for quality goods and products, but they also want good service and vendors who genuinely care about their business and success.  

Remind them using credit cards leads to a host of benefits such as cash back, rewards points, and other discounts that can reduce costs and put money back into their business. These features aren’t available when paying by check. Using credit cards enables your customers to get something in return whenever they pay you.

Offer Incentives

“What’s in it for me?” 

You’ll be fielding that question quite a bit when trying to get your customers to use credit cards, especially from those entrenched in their ways. 

The answer is an incentive program. Reward customers who use credit cards with exclusive offers, priority shipping, or discounts, especially those who routinely pay before their due date. You can also extend payment terms with reduced fees anytime they use credit cards.

Alert them About Security 

Customers who are adamant about paying by check put their business at great risk – check fraud is the most common form of financial deceit, with the Association of Financial Professionals reporting that 65% of treasury practitioners surveyed said their organizations were victims of check fraud in 2023.  

Credit cards are far safer than paying by paper checks, which can get stolen in transit, chemically altered, and made out for a different amount and to a different payee. Because checks are nearly impossible to track, it may take weeks before your customers know they were fraud victims. And some banks won’t offer refunds if fraud is reported after 30 days. Credit cards are tokenized and encrypted and immediately alert you to unauthorized purchases.

Bill360: Credit Card Acceptance Made Easy

Accepting credit cards is simple with accounting automation from Bill360. We process card payments through our secure, embedded platform, saving you up to $2,500 on swipe fees, and give you the option to set threshold limits per customer and invoice or enable and disable AutoPay. 

With Bill360, your customers can set up and manage digital wallets in their own self-service portal, creating a hassle-free payment experience that gets you paid faster and encourages credit card usage. 

Contact Bill360 today and experience how accepting credit cards benefits your business and its customers.