Using a POS system is really important for businesses today, especially if you happen to be in the hospitality industry. However many business owners also report that they have had to face issues with these once they started using them and when facts are considered, many of these turn out ot be issues that were created because of the lack of knowledge and carelessness to begin with. So if you are planning on getting a POS system you should read the guide below to a few important issues that can be easily solved if you simply pay attention.
Not Having a Backup Plan for Your Business
There is nothing perfect about anything so if you do your due diligence and make the right choice on your POS, you should still make sure that there is a backup method for you to take payments in, just in case the system fails due to something, maybe an extensive power cut for example. This is very true when you buy a system that cannot process your payments, if it does not have a Wi-Fi signal present at all times. These systems are web based. Instead of this, choose something that is cloud based so that they can still process payments without internet or being on offline mode. You should however have a backup hotspot connection that can be used in the event that your main systems are dysfunctional or interrupted. Based on the needs of your business and your budget, you may sometimes need to think about getting an entire backup hospitality point of sale system. You can keep one handy to use for when there are issues with the main system. You could also use a virtual terminal as a way of back up in order to take payments, if there has been a primary system failure. The more backup that you have, the better always.
Violating the Terms of Your Merchant Services Agreement
Alright, so nobody is going to knowingly and willingly violate their terms and conditions but sometimes, merchants may run the risk of violating their merchant account agreements without even knowing that they are. They actually may not even know it until they experience a face account freeze or an abrupt termination. In much of these cases you can actually avoid this easily. You may have unintentionally violated the agreement and rendered your POS unable to process any transactions by exceeding their monthly credit processing limits and also by selling something that you did not say that you will sell. If you can work to minimize charge backs, this will also help in avoiding disruptions and freezes or even terminations. You also need to try and steer clear of any red flag transactions.
Not Securing the POS
Another common issue that can be solved with just a bit of care is exposing your POS to fraud. This is an especially big problem among small scale businesses. To prevent this issue it is very important to regularly check and maintain your POS and ensure that it meets the PCI-DSS compliance standards. You will have to look into things like keeping the antivirus software up to date and assigning a specific ID to each person who has access to the system.
