16 Feb Car dealerships move their bottomline into gear with card payments
The Irish automotive industry has form as a frontrunner when it comes to innovation and trend-setting. With open road racing banned in the UK the Gordon Bennett Rally, now in its 120th year, marked the world’s first motor car race on a closed circuit in the Irish midlands through Kildare, Carlow and Laois*. It was Dublin where John Dunlop founded the Dunlop Pneumatic Tyre Co. Ltd, which advanced the use and potential of pneumatic tyres.
In 2022, with the majority of BOIPA’s automotive merchants reflecting that almost 7 in 10 of their sales were cashless, it is little surprise to see the sector ready to adapt and benefit from changing payment preferences. A quarter now say they already are or predicting they would become a fully cashless business by 2027.
With more Irish customers now fully acquainted with digital transactions, offering card payment options to car buyers is now a point of sale necessity rather than an optional payment accessory with their ability to increase car these businesses’ bottom-line. Here’s why car dealerships and auto centres have embraced digital payment options….
Accepting card payments helps meet customer expectations
Understanding a car buyer’s needs and ensuring available car options and their features match their expectations is a critical part of a car dealer’s ability to finalise a deal and, in turn, drive sales. Ensuring that a dealership is equipped with the payment options that match a customer’s payment preference is now part of meeting those expectations.
Most consumers prefer to pay with card for its convenience and ease of use and 97% of the country now use some form of digital payments. They are also more likely to pay by card for more expensive items like a new or used car, with less than 10% opting to pay with just cash for a purchase over €1,000.
Accepting card transactions removes customers’ worry about carrying cash/ cheques or the headache of completing bank transfer forms. The reliable, secure and easy to process high standards associated with digital payments streamlines the final leg of your customer’s purchasing journey and supports increased customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Card transactions support consolidated reporting and more efficient administration
Seamless, quick and secure transactions are the most obvious benefit from card payments. Additionally, they have the capability to support better administrative practices.
Better oversight of transactions through online reporting portals allow businesses to view time-stamped, transaction details and monthly statements. This reduces time spent on consolidating payments and potential mistakes associated with consolidating cash, cheque and bank lodgements.
It also allows dealerships with multiple locations, like Connolly Motors, manage and view reports on all terminals across all business premises. Tracing which payments arose from which card terminal and in which branch means less time on laborious administration for BOIPA merchants, allowing accounts personnel to concentrate more effort on areas that support better cash flow in their car dealership or auto centre.
Digital payments better support routine cash flow and reduces costs
The possibility for next day settlement is something all businesses new to cards or thinking of switching should enquire about from any payments provider. This ensures financial peace of mind through better cash flow and budgetary planning compared to cash and cheques lodgements and bank transfers.
Receiving money through digital payments also reduces cash handling and lodgement fees with competitively priced card terminal options offering better value than traditional transaction, along with reducing costs associated with manual processing and paperwork.
In BOIPA’s payments survey last year, card payments were cited as being more cost effective than cash by automotive businesses who felt the general switch from cash to card had benefited their business.
Pay by Link payment opportunities increases benefits from card payments
Innovative digital payment solutions like BOIPA Collect continues to enhance the added benefits businesses can profit from accepting digital payments. Sending secure and easy to pay by link payment options to customers via email and/ or SMS adds to the customers’ experience at point of sale gives them security, control and transparency over how and when they pay. It also offers added oversight to business owners and managers by allowing them track payments and send communications in real time with its personalised messaging feature.
“BOI Payment Acceptance have been great to work with, and being able to offer my customers the option to pay with card definitely attracts business. My passengers can just jump into the taxi, tap & go!”
– Donie’s Taxi, Portlaoise
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“In terms of the actual installation of the terminals, BOIPA’s engineer liaised with our own IT person and quickly solved any problems. We’ve also been able to contact the call centre helpline with little obstruction or delay, which is important when experiencing issues at a customer-facing, store level.”
– Peg Fitzpatrick
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