The Payments SMBs Prefer

What payments do small and midsized businesses (SMBs) accept? What tools do they use to accept payments? To find out, we recently surveyed 500 U.S. SMB principals.

Payment preferences vary by SMB size. Very small businesses (VSBs, with 1-19 employees) still prefer to take cash, while small businesses (SBs, with 20-99 employees) and midsized businesses (MBs, with 100-500 employees) accept most customer payments via cards. Across the board, SMBs are more likely to accept card payments online than in-store.

We conducted similar research a year ago. One notable change in the past year is that digital P2P payment acceptance is up seven percent in all SMB size segments. In the same timeframe, MB credit card acceptance (both online and in-store) is up 10 percentage points, and cryptocurrency acceptance is up five percentage points.SMB Inbound Payment Preferences

In terms of the ways SMBs accept customer payments, nearly half of VSBs, and three in four SBs and MBs, have a POS system. The percentages are similar for invoicing software that lets customers pay online. Roughly two in five VSBs sell via social media, increasing to roughly three in five SBs and MBs. One in three VSBs let customers pay on their website versus more than three in five SBs and MBs. One in seven VSBs, one in three SBs and almost half of MBs offer their customers a “buy now pay later” option.

How SMBs Accept Payments

Find this interesting? Learn more about SMB payments in our upcoming Fastcast What SMBs Want in a Payments Solution at 1pmE next Thursday 5/22. Get actionable insights on the investments SMBs are planning and the sales and marketing tactics that work best to promote your payment offerings.

Looking for actionable SMB insight? Bredin’s global research gives you high-value insights to improve your go-to-market and product strategies. We also generate uniquely valuable data for high-impact content, PR, social, and sales support programs.