Why Your POS Should Never Lock You Into One Payment Processor

Liquor Store Owners Deserve Control Over Their POS, Their Payment Processing, and Their Business Data

Your point-of-sale system is one of the most important pieces of technology in your liquor store. It tracks your sales, manages your inventory, stores valuable business data, and helps you make decisions about what to buy, what to sell, and how to run your business.

Your payment processor is important, too.

But should choosing one determine whether you can continue using the other?

We don’t think so.

Some Lightning POS merchants have reported concerns about being forced to use Lightning Payment Network payment-processing to have continued use of their POS system. For a liquor store owner who prefers another payment processor, that can create a difficult situation: change processors or stick with the one that is using your inventory, and your sales data as leverage against you at whatever processing rate and under whatever conditions they force upon you.

Regardless of the provider, this type of arrangement highlights a bigger issue in the POS industry: Should your POS company be able to dictate who processes your payments?

At Bevly, our answer is simple: No.

That’s why Bevly is processor agnostic.

What Does “Processor Agnostic” Mean?

A processor-agnostic POS system separates the software you use to operate your liquor store from the company you choose to process your credit and debit card transactions.

With Bevly, you aren’t choosing a payment processor when you choose your POS.

You’re choosing your POS.

If you already have a payment processor you’re happy with, you can keep them.

If you want to use payment processing available through us, you can do that too.

And if you decide six months, two years, or five years from now that another processor is a better fit for your business, you can change processors without having to replace your Bevly profile.

Your payment processing relationship can change. Your Bevly profile doesn’t have to.

If you’d like to discuss payment processing options or learn more about how we can help, contact us here.

Why Forced Payment Processing Can Be Bad for Merchants

Bundling payment processing and POS software can offer convenience. Integrated payments can simplify reconciliation and reduce the number of vendors a business has to manage.

The problem comes when integration turns into lock-in.

A liquor store owner should be able to evaluate payment processors based on the things that matter to their business, including:

• Processing rates and fees
• Customer service
• Funding times
• Equipment
• Contract terms
• Reliability
• Existing business relationships

When the continued use of your POS depends on keeping one particular payment processor, your ability to negotiate or switch providers can become significantly more limited.

If another processor offers you better pricing or service, switching shouldn’t require replacing the software that runs your entire store.

Your Sales and Inventory Data Are Critical to Your Business

For a liquor store, a POS isn’t simply a cash register.

It may contain years of information about inventory, sales, pricing, product movement, margins, vendors, purchasing, and store performance.

That information helps answer important questions:

• What products are selling?
• What’s sitting on the shelf?
• What should you reorder?
• How much inventory do you have?
• What did you sell last month or last year?
• Which products are actually making you money?

A disagreement over payment processing shouldn’t unnecessarily disrupt access to the operational systems and information you rely on to run your business.

This is one of the reasons merchants should consider payment-processing flexibility when evaluating a POS system—not just its features.

Bevly Gives Liquor Store Owners a Choice

Bevly was built specifically around the needs of liquor store owners, and flexibility is an important part of that philosophy.

Bevly is processor agnostic.

Have a processor you already like?

Keep them.

Want to explore payment processing through us?

You can.

Find a better processing opportunity later?

Switch.

You don’t need to throw away your POS profile, rebuild your inventory database, retrain your employees, and start from scratch simply because you’ve decided to change payment processors.

Your POS should help you run your business—not dictate how you run it.

POS Software and Payment Processing Should Be Separate Business Decisions

There’s nothing inherently wrong with a POS company offering its own payment processing. In fact, some merchants prefer having their POS and processing provided through the same company.

Bevly gives customers that option.

The key word is option.

There’s a significant difference between saying:

“We offer payment processing if you’d like to use it.”

and:

“You must use our payment processing if you want to keep using our software.”

We believe liquor store owners should be able to compare processors, negotiate pricing, change providers, and choose what’s best for their individual business without worrying about losing the POS platform they depend on.

Looking for an Alternative to Lightning POS?

If you’re a Lightning POS customer concerned about payment-processing requirements or you’re simply looking for a liquor store POS that gives you more flexibility, Bevly is worth exploring.

Bevly isn’t just another cash register.

It’s liquor store management software designed to help automate and simplify the work that consumes owners’ time, including inventory management, receiving, invoicing, payments, reporting, inventory audits, and more.

Most importantly, Bevly doesn’t require you to give up your choice of payment processor just to use the platform.

• Keep your existing processor.
• Use ours.
• Change processors later.

The choice remains yours.

Take Control of Your Liquor Store Technology

The company providing your POS software shouldn’t automatically get to decide who processes every credit card transaction your business accepts.

Choose your POS based on the software that’s best for your store.

Choose your payment processor based on the processing relationship that’s best for your business.

With Bevly, you can do both.

Ready to explore a processor-agnostic POS and flexible payment processing options?

Contact us today to learn more.

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