How can you make your tow truck drivers’ job easier with a payment gateway?
Is your home office team still sending out invoices to customers and hoping they will pay as agreed? Do you have a dedicated staff person making calls demanding payment for late invoices? If you’re getting a headache from trying to collect from all the customers that owe you money, one of the first ways to alleviate the pain is to choose a payment gateway to collect payment at the tow site.
What is a payment gateway?
A payment gateway is a fancy term that describes software systems that collect payment information from your customer, transmit the data to payment processors,
and send you an approval or denial for the funds. You probably know these payment gateways by the names of the most popular choices: PayPal, Square, and Stripe.
How do payment gateways work for a towing company?
Without a payment gateway in place, tow truck drivers often call the dispatch office and verbally give the employee the customer’s credit card number. Dispatch will run the card using a payment processor function in the company’s computer system and then provide approval to the driver.
However, with a payment gateway, the tow truck driver can take the payment using a mobile device such as a smartphone or tablet with cell service. The driver can either type in the card information to the mobile application or use a handy card swipe device that plugs into the mobile unit. The information transmits through the payment processor and returns an authorization code to the driver. The sale is complete, and no further steps are required.
How do payment gateways help with PCI compliance?
PCI compliance is a complex set of security measures that all businesses must adhere to in order to keep card information secure. When a tow driver uses an application or card swipe to place a purchase on the customer’s credit card, no card data is preserved on the tablet or mobile device, and obviously, the driver doesn’t write down this information on any physical papers that could be lost or stolen.
How much do payment gateways cost?
Each payment gateway has a unique cost structure. Some take a small percentage of the purchase total–from 1% to 4% as an example. Others have a small cost per transaction and a portion of the purchase (i.e., .10 per transaction plus 1.75% of the purchase price.)
Your accountant can help you review different options and determine which payment gateway is best for you. The additional costs you pay are typically well worth it when you consider the added convenience of having payments deposited directly into your company’s bank account without mailing out invoices or conducting phone calls.
Make your tow truck drivers’ job easier with the right towing equipment.
There are many ways you can make the job easier for your towing team, including equipping each of your trucks with towing equipment from Collins. Collins has been an industry leader in the towing equipment industry for over 45 years. Our Hi-SpeedⓇ Dolly and Carrier Dolly systems provide towing professionals with lightweight solutions durable enough to get even large vehicles out of challenging situations and transport them safely wherever they need to go. Our products are designed with safety first to keep your employees safe while attaching and moving vehicles. Visit our website or give us a call to learn more about our products.
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