Definition
The technical and operational handling of customer payments (credit cards, ACH bank transfers, tap-to-pay, online checkout links) usually through a processor such as Stripe or Square or a card terminal provider. The processor takes a cut of each transaction and controls how quickly funds reach the business account.
What it looks like in practice
A mobile dog groomer wraps up a full groom in the client's driveway and needs to collect before she drives to the next stop. Tapping a card on her phone takes seconds; the client is out the door with the dog. A second client prefers to pay from the link on the emailed invoice that night. A third, an older regular, still writes a check. Each route costs something different: the tap and the link both give up a slice of the ticket to the processor and land in her account in a couple of business days, while the check is free and sits in the van until Friday.
Why it matters
How you take money shapes both how fast it arrives and how much of each sale you keep. Fees are small per transaction and very real across a year, so owners weigh them against what they buy: fewer awkward conversations about payment, no chasing a check, funds that settle on a predictable schedule. The other half is customer expectation; plenty of people no longer carry cash, let alone a checkbook, and a payment method someone can't use is friction at the exact moment they were ready to pay. Processing choices also decide what your invoicing can actually automate.