CrossCheck Blog

The Southeast Acquirers Association (SEAA) conference in New Orleans was a whirlwind of insights and discussions. A major talking point? Surcharging and the potential impact on both merchants and consumers. There are sure to be many more discussions during the Midwest Acquirers Association (MWAA) happening now in Chicago and CrossCheck’s own VP of Partner and ISO Relations Travis Powers will be on hand to answer questions and offer solutions to take to your merchant clients.

Is the construction industry headed for a slowdown? Don't let wobbly markets and high interest rates throw a wrench in your cash flow! Here's a breakdown of what contractors and building material suppliers can expect for the rest of 2024, plus smart tips to ensure you get paid on time - no matter what the economy throws your way.

With our customers’ success in mind CrossCheck has created payment processing solutions that will appeal to all building materials vendors, especially as construction is slowing down compared to recent years and each transaction becomes more important.

In the world of auto glass manufacturing, selling, and installation, convenience and efficiency are essential for both businesses and customers. Credit cards are quick and easy but usually carry a heavy surcharge. By comparison, CrossCheck has the services to streamline the process from manufacturing to wholesale, to merchant, to installation, at less cost and with less hassle.

CrossCheck's ACH Pay-by-Link with Guarantee is the convenient payment solution for any business. Frictionless payments via email or text will also enable merchants to set up payments with tokenization, meaning customers only have to enter their information once. With credit card fees at high rates, checking accounts are still often the preferred method of payment, and our ACH Pay-by-Link is a superior, easy way to save customers from credit card interest rates, and save the merchant from high credit card fees. Once customers get the ACH Pay-by-Link as a text or email, they can enter their info on a phone or tablet and CrossCheck will handle the rest.

Whether it’s a big job or a small job, window installers have to respond, ready with a quote and payment options. In the big picture, according to research done by Principia Consulting, repair and remodel volume for windows is expected to grow at an annualized rate of 5.3% through 2023. Of course, that doesn’t really take into account little Billy, who kicked his soccer ball through the new kitchen window.

John is a building materials supplier. He has just received a wish list of innovative materials from a general contractor who is building an office and lab for a tech manufacturer. John knows the wish list is expensive but is excited to be part of creating what promises to be a structure that will revolutionize the construction industry and hoist it into tomorrow.

The announcement that Random Length Lumber Futures (for March 2021) have reached an all-time high ($1,004) has prompted a variety of solutions by contractors and other customers of building supply dealers. The record-high lumber prices soared past the $1,000 per 1,000 board feet mark on Feb. 18, sending buyers into reaction mode. This figure is over twice the amount ($495.60) from Nov. 2020. Experts say a strong home-building market, low-interest rates, and a boom in home remodeling are responsible for the increase despite other indications that demand for lumber is decreasing.

If your business sells building materials to the construction industry, then you already know that it takes a long time to get paid. It doesn’t matter what you sell — lumber, dry wall, plumbing supplies, roofing materials, flooring — the contractors who buy from you have cash-flow issues that they deal with every day. The 2019 National Construction Payments Report, a survey conducted in collaboration between Levelset and TSheets by Quickbooks, concluded that getting paid in the construction industry is slower than just about every other industry. How slow? The average time to payment is 83 days!

There’s an old saying in business, “Nothing happens until somebody makes a sale!” This is true, of course, and so is this corollary: “Nothing happens with cash flow until the building materials customer pays the bill.” Cash flow is the lifeblood of the building materials industry. Sometimes a business with a full order book and a large accounts receivable position will be forced to close its doors because there wasn’t enough cash on hand to pay the bills that are due now. This is why it’s just good business to have a company credit policy at a building materials center. As somebody said, “If there’s no plan, there’s no hope for survival.” This raises the question: how do you create a credit policy?