Issue #45 - The credit card issue 💳
How to choose a payment provider | How to start accepting card payments at your business | How to protect your small business against card fraud | 5 businesses, 1 question | Tunes | Words | More
It’s almost shopping silly season 🛒
Welcome to Issue #45 of The Backbone - the fortnightly newsletter from Bionic.
The Christmas adverts have been on the telly for weeks and our inboxes are getting bombarded with Black Friday promotions - the shopping silly season is almost upon us.
Things could be a bit muted this year - the ongoing energy price crisis and the cost of living crisis will have a big impact on everyone’s spending - but one thing that is certain is that fraudsters and scammers will be hard at work.
Figures from Experian show detected fraud rate for cards rose by 42% between October and December 2021 compared with the previous quarter, and there’s no reason why criminals won’t be just as active this year.
Card fraud is an issue that cost a total of £524.5 million in 2021, according to the UKFinance Annual Fraud Report. But it could have been even worse - a total of £966.6 million in card fraud was stopped by banks and card companies in 2021. This is equivalent to 64.8p in every £1 of attempted fraud being prevented.
It’s a problem that affects everyone from card issuers to card users, and one that all business owners need to be aware of. That’s why we’ve included some guidance on how to protect your business from card fraud in this week’s issue.
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🗞 R E A D
How to choose a payment provider for your business
As more customers move away from cash transactions, it’s essential that you offer an alternative payment method. But finding a payment provider that’s the perfect fit for your needs can be difficult — especially with such a range to choose from. To help you find the right option, we’ll walk you through the steps for choosing the best payment provider, what qualities you should look out for, and some of the most popular choices.
How to start accepting card payments as a small business
Tapping a card has become almost second nature as credit and debit payments have overtaken cash as the most common way to pay for goods or services. Accepting card payments doesn’t just make life easier for customers, it can make life simpler for business owners too. It can even make your business more accessible and attract new customers. Here’s how to set up card payments for your business.
How to protect your small business against card fraud
The Black Friday and Christmas shopping sprees are about to begin, which means your business could be handling a lot of card payments. It also means fraudsters will be hard at work. If your business takes card payments for goods or services, you need to be clued up to the dangers of card fraud. Even if most of your sales are done face-to-face, you could still be hit. Here’s how to protect your small business against card fraud.
🗣 S H O U T O U T
#BionicBusinessStory - 5 businesses, 1 question 🤔
We love hearing all about how small business owners got to where they are. The stories of how they’ve built their business, the things that keep them awake at night, their biggest achievements, and how they cope when life feels like it’s going at 60 miles an hour. We asked five business owners one simple question, and here’s how they answered…
Bionic - How did you get your business off the ground?
🎃 “Avon Valley opened 33 years ago as a ‘pick your own’ farm. It went from there really. Doug took over the farm and developed the business, getting it to where it is now.” - Lizzie Arkley - Avon Valley
🎂 “When I was studying for my A-Levels I was suffering from depression, and I found that baking really helped me. When I went to Cardiff to study for my degree, I finally had my own kitchen, so I was able to bake whenever I wanted. It developed from there, I knew a girl at university who was also from Hong Kong and she mentioned one day that she really missed the traditional Hong Kong bakeries. So, I baked her some Hong Kong-style buns and also some more western things like macaroons. She loved them and suggested I set up a business.” Anna Yu - Anna Yu’s Bakery
🍫 “My parents had run a few businesses when I was younger, so I always thought it was the normal thing to do, be your own boss, run your own business. Goupie actually happened almost by accident, we’d taken some samples to a few local farm shops on a whim, and they’d decided to order some. We kind of had to scramble a bit then to design packaging and make it look like a product to sell, the business grew quite naturally after that.” Grace Simpson - Goupie
🍳 “My dad and I started this business in 2003, just after I left university. We’re both very creative and hands-on, so we designed some moulds one day and then started to make the chocolates ourselves. We didn’t have a plan, but we just took our moulds to a few different shows and the feedback was great,” she tells us. "Within six months we had listings in Harrods and John Lewis! What we were producing was so different from other chocolatiers.” Flo Broughton - Choc on Choc
🐩 “The business happened very organically. Ever since I was a child, I've always had a great love of dogs, so my love of textiles and design just came together naturally. Being of Iranian Heritage, my inspiration has always been British life, with its heritage and landscape. When I first came to the UK, I thought it was the most exotic place ever, and I still do!” Lilly Shahravesh - LISH
📩 J O I N
Get involved with our business community 🔊
Share your thoughts and tips to give other busy business owners a helping hand. Or ask a question to see if anyone can help you out.
Get your business costs sorted 💷
Bionic - the business price comparison experts - compare a range of business essentials to help you save time, money, and hassle.
Our tech-enabled team will answer all your questions in simple terms, and help you find the best deal on business energy, insurance, phone, broadband, or finance. No jargon. No-fuss. #BeABionicBusiness 🦾
It’s our great customer service and energy expertise that gives us the edge 😎
Check out more ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Trustpilot reviews
🎧 L I S T E N
Playlist
This week’s playlist has been recommended by Holly from the People and Culture team, who’s been listening to Fred again (that’s his name - Fred again - but she’s constantly listening to him, so it works on both levels). You might not have heard of Fred again, but you will definitely know some of his songs - he co-wrote George Ezra’s “Shotgun”, Clean Bandit’s '“Solo”, and Rita Ora’s “Let You Love Me”, among others. Here’s a playlist of all his stuff.
Podcast
This week’s Podcast has been chosen by Gary from the Tech-Ops team - one of Bionic’s knights in shining armour when there’s an IT dragon to slay. He’s chosen The Ass-Breaking Motivation - and once you get past the quite terrifying title, you’ll find a really useful and engaging pod packed with all you need to know about motivation, learning, self-discipline, and leadership. Episodes usually clock in at under 10 minutes, so won’t take up too much of your time either.
👩🤝👩🏾 S H A R E
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🏡 H O U S E K E E P I N G
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🚫 S T O P
Thanks for making it to the end of another Bionic small Ebusiness bulletin 🤝🏻
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