Businesses That Don't Accept Plastic Lose $100 Billion in Sales Annually

Intuit announced today the results of their research on small businesses in the US and how they accept payments from their customers. Apparently 55% of these businesses do not accept credit cards and they are missing out. On the whole, $100 billion in sales is lost every year, averaging out to about $7,000 per business (15 million SMBs don't accept cards). When you hear $100 billion, you think "WOW!" But then when I heard it only averaged out to about $7,000 lost per year I didn't think that number was very impressive.

"Oh, just $7,000 per business? That's not much," I said to a group of coworkers. But one of them piped up and reminded me that these are small businesses and another $7,000 a year in sales could mean a lot for them. She's right.

It makes me wonder why over half of small businesses in the US just won't accept plastic. I mean, I do know why - the majority of them don't want to pay the fees - but they would still make more money if they just took the plunge. I have tried to convince many a merchant of this fact unsuccessfully. When you are a small business trying to make it, every penny counts and they don't want to hear about a service they have to pay for. But this doesn't stop me from trying to convince them otherwise every chance I get!

If you are interested in more fun payment facts from Intuit, they put everything in a cool infographic: