Are you looking to use your mobile device to process payments for your business well stay tuned to find out how? whether this is your first time around with a credit card processing app or you want to upgrade that old credit card swiper you've had for years there's a lot to consider you'll need to answer questions like what technology is out there how much does a cell phone credit card reader cost and what can you do with a mobile point of sale in other words what's the best credit card reader for my small business in this article.
I'll answer those questions for you but before i get started please hit that subscribe button to follow our channel it's especially important to have a high quality small business credit card reader these days as many businesses and consumers are moving away from cash for disease transmission reasons it's gotten to the point that the number of coins in circulation has dropped and with many consumers reluctant to physically hand over a credit card a credit card reader that allows contactless nfc payments is ideal so if you're seeking the best credit card reader for your small business keep watching
here's our list of the most popular mobile point of sale options and their specifications the best credit card reader depends on your industry your sales volume and the business software you already use for example square has the best credit card reader for low volume businesses while shopify has the best card reader for online retailers and paypal's reader is best for paypal merchants all right let's start with square point of sale it's easily the most powerful free mobile processing app available along with mobile credit card processing it offers inventory tracking invoicing advanced reporting a free customer database a free online store a buy now button to sell online without a website and a whole bunch of
other features square is always innovating and updating its software features so new functions are added all the time both the app and the portable credit card reader are free to use and square will even send you a free headphone jack or lightning port reader to accept magnetic stripe credit card payments with your device if you want a bluetooth reader that can accept chip cards and contactless payments square offers the square reader for 49 as for mobile processing rates you'll pay a flat 2.6 plus 10 cents for all card present transactions this type of flat rate pricing usually works out great for lower volume sellers such as those processing less than ten thousand dollars a month or with smaller ticket sizes like coffee carts and food trucks however higher volume sellers will get a better deal
if they get their own individual merchant account after you process a payment with square funds are deposited in your bank account within one to two business days for no added fee but if you want an instant or same day transfer to your bank account you can pay a fee to get that service the best thing about square is that it is completely risk-free to try out or even to install as a backup point of sale in case your primary point of sale goes down and even if you never use it you won't have to pay a monthly fee and you won't be out any money because the credit card reader itself is free as well and no matter what type of small business you own it's a good idea to have a square credit card swiper in your back pocket at merchant maverick
we've written a guide to square point of sale hardware check the link below for more information swipe simple is a mobile credit card reader and app made by a company called card flight it's available through several merchant account providers but for this article we're focusing on swipe simple from payment depot for the simple reason that they have the best terms and fees for swipe simple swipe simple has all the core features mobile merchants need plus a few extras like a virtual terminal with payment depot you can get the swipe simple app for just 10 a month and transaction processing at 2.6 plus 10 cents that's a merchant maverick exclusive deal by the way and it comes with 24 to 48 hour deposits
i'll drop a link in the description below for more information and those are rates that make this reader suitable for any low volume mobile business what sets payment depot apart is that it will give you your own merchant account whereas most of the others in this list use the third-party aggregating business model that means that swipe simple buy payment depot carries less risk of an account hold or termination as long as you do not operate an inherently high-risk business true it's a little more expensive than square but for businesses burned by a third-party processor in the past that extra 10 a month fee could be well worth it payment depot offers new merchants a free chip and swipe reader the swift b200 which connects via bluetooth
if you're interested in contactless payments you can get a swipe chip and tap reader the swift b250 for just 25 our third option is helsim an excellent option for small to medium-sized businesses looking for interchange plus pricing and a full suite of features helsin is also scalable in that you can use it either for mobile processing only or on a tablet or desktop however helsum isn't well suited to low volume mobile merchants it's fine for merchants processing five thousand to ten thousand a month but ideal for businesses processing more than twenty five thousand a month so the more you process the lower your rates are probably going to be helsim is super transparent about its payment margins which start at point three percent plus eight cents per transaction for merchants processing zero to twenty five thousand dollars a month and it reduces to point two five percent plus eight cents per transaction if you process between 25 and 50 000 a month and
if you process between 50 000 to 100 000 a month you get another 0.05 price drop and it keeps going down from there like popular payment service providers such as square and paypal halsam has no monthly fee and bills on a month-to-month basis with no long-term contract however the company offers a true full-service merchant account minimizing the chance that your account will be suddenly frozen or shut down similar to payment depot healthsim also comes with a slew of features including customer management inventory tracking and food service management as for the reader itself the nfc friendly hellsome card reader is 199. with an optional reader countertop stand it works across all devices and while its pin pad makes it more robust than a traditional mobile card reader it's also fully mobile helsim is a great compromise for low-risk businesses that want the stability of having their own merchant account with interchange plus pricing and no long-term contract along with the ease flexibility and transparency of a third-party processor like square paypal here shopify lite or sum up shopify lite is an excellent mobile credit card processing solution for retailers who sell at craft fairs pop-up events or even on social media while you'll pay 79 a month for the full-fledged shopify pos designed for a countertop setup with a cash drawer and receipt printer shopify's mobile solution shopify lite is just nine dollars a month shopify lite supports sales through social media and a buy button on your website and provides access to the mobile pos the shopify lite plan also includes a mobile invoicing feature and everything syncs between your in-person sales and any online sales through facebook in-person transactions with shopify payments process at 2.7 payments typically arrive in your bank account after 24 to 72 hours the key pos features are the same in the light plan as other shopify service plans the big difference is the lack of hardware support limited staff pin access and limited online selling options sellers with a brick and mortar retail store may prefer the shopify pos package which has an in-person processing rate of 2.5 percent and more advanced features including a full-fledged shopify online store you can buy a 29 shopify chip and swipe reader when you sign up for shopify lite or any other shopify plan or you can upgrade to a 49 tap and chip reader to accept contactless payments add a 19 case
if you want to attach that reader to your iphone x or xs check out our shopify guide to pos hardware to learn more linked in the description below while most credit card readers are geared toward micro merchants stacks mobile sets itself apart by offering mobile processing for larger businesses in addition to mobile processing stacks by fat merchant also offers a whole suite of integrated omni channel payment options including a virtual terminal and the tax payments stacks can work for mobile only merchants or for multi-channel selling for merchants who need mobile and online selling channels and stacks offers highly competitive zero percent interchange plus processing fees monthly pricing starts at 99 a month for processing and software with more feature-rich packages being offered for 159 dollars a month and 199 a month respectively even though 99 a month is a high membership fee for processing compared to our other options this is an excellent rate for higher volume mobile merchants processing more than ten thousand dollars a month particularly
if your average ticket size is at least seventy five dollars plus the zero percent interchange plus processing rate is hard to beat you literally are going to pay no interchange fees stacks offers a few different mobile credit card readers that work with the stacks mobile app starting at 75 apiece with the pocket size bluetooth connected swipe emv and nfc reader chipper 2x bt representing the most affordable nfc capable option these mobile readers are pretty basic and similar to the one paypal here uses still they're fully capable of accepting apple pay contactless cards and any other credit card using the stacks mobile app you can email receipts add tips send invoices and more in addition to processing payments with the reader or scanning credit cards with the app you also have the option to text customers a payment link so that they can pay remotely which is ideal for socially distanced selling the stacks mobile app does not allow you to connect to any peripheral hardware such as a cash drawer or hand scanner making staxx mobile a mobile only solution despite being designed for larger businesses sum up is a european company that opened up processing for us merchants in 2017 while it does everything most merchants will need to do it's not as comprehensive as other options it doesn't include discounts or invoices for example it's also worth noting that sum up operates in quite a few countries across europe including the uk as well as south america which makes it an interesting global solution similar to square there is no monthly fee for using the sum up app and transactions process at a flat 2.75 percent each
if you process many small transactions this rate is better than squares because that extra 10 cents square tax on adds up for transactions under 10 funds are deposited in your account in one to two days sum ups bluetooth connected mobile card reader the sum up plus is similar in appearance to squares and clovers readers and can accept swiped tapped or dipped payments additionally the sum up plus has a pin pad integrated just like the company's european reader you can get the sum up reader for 19 in the us which is a really good price for an all-in-one reader i don't think there's a cheaper nfc capable reader available outside the us prices and card reader options vary some up also recently introduced the sum up pro card reader for 59 this nifty looking pocket reader comes with a built-in sim card free unlimited mobile data and wi-fi connectivity next to square paypal zettle is probably the best-known mobile credit card app on the market it's not as robust as square but it does have all the essentials that merchants need plus invoicing
if you use paypal to sell online all of your data syncs up which is a big draw and paypal is entirely pay as you go with no monthly fees swipe dipped or tapped transactions processed at two point two nine percent plus nine cents for each transaction with its flat rate pricing and lack of a monthly fee paypal settle can work great for any small low volume business even if you're not a paypal seller what's more transactions process at a lower rate than with square and another major benefit of paypal zettle is instant transfers to your paypal account which you can use for immediate online spending paypal also has an instant transfer option to move funds to your bank for a 1.5 percent fee the minimum fee is 25 cents the maximum is 15 paypal no longer offers their former mpos system paypal here to new merchants and since they began offering zettle as its mobile point of sale app it has narrowed its card reader offerings down to one the zettle reader 2. your first reader will cost 29 with each subsequent reader costing 79 29 is a very reasonable price for a reader that accepts chip contact lists and pin payments it doesn't accept mag stripe transactions though this limitation is becoming less significant with each passing day though you can also get a doc for the device for 49
if you don't want to worry about your reader losing its charge during your sales day here's some information on a few more popular card readers for small businesses that didn't quite make our list clover go is a solid mobile credit card reader and processing system but it doesn't make sense as a standalone mobile option clovergo works better as an add-on for businesses that already use clover point of sale system for most other businesses looking for a standalone system better services are available including the other ones on our list many different entities sell clover go so the quality of your service depends on the merchant account provider you buy it from at merchant maverick we recommend national processing dharma merchant services and payment depot
if you do choose to use clover go like clover go quickbooks go payment is a decent mobile credit card reader if you're a devoted user of that particular software in this case intuit products as a standalone option though you can do better quickbooks go payment charges a 25 per transaction fee plus 2.4 unless you're on the 20 a month plan in which case the percentage fee is just 1.6 all of that makes small transactions expensive to process smaller and newer businesses may also have a harder time getting approved for the intuit merchant account you'll need to process with quickbooks go payment however this app does have the benefit of its seamless integration with quickbooks accounting software so you may want to look into this product if that's important to you pay anywhere is yet another small business credit card reader that at the outset looks and functions similarly to square or any other mobile credit card reader the company advertises a pay-as-you-go rate of 2.69 for merchants with an average monthly transaction volume of ten thousand dollars or less what the company doesn't tell you is that once you start processing a dime more than that you're automatically rolled over into an ironclad merchant account agreement the merchant account includes a myriad of monthly fees and terms as well as a hefty early termination fee
if you want to exit the contract the company has also been accused of deceptive sales tactics and poor customer service the actual credit card reader and app are fine but still pay anywhere is not a company you want to get stuck into a merchant account with so why does it matter
if businesses can accept credit card payments mobile credit card readers can come in handy in a lot of business situations mobile credit card readers can be used for the following occasional mobile sales at trunk shows farmers markets pop-up shops craft fairs or any other event selling on the floor or checking out customers while they wait in line rather than at the counter full-time mobile business sales such as food trucks mobile dog groomers personal trainers and so on as a backup point of sale
if your main point of sale goes down independent contract works such as hairdressers who rent a booth as a mobile invoicing solution for plumbers contractors exterminators or any business that performs services at someone's home or a job site new businesses that don't have a merchant account yet any small business that wants a simple lightweight point of sale with a small footprint mobile credit card apps carry many benefits for small businesses and not just mobile businesses without a physical storefront with mobile payments you can access customers who don't carry cash make mobile sales when you're on the road at trade shows conventions pop-up events and so on you can accept contactless nfc payments like apple pay google pay and contactless credit cards you can run a cashless business which many businesses are doing now for hygienic reasons during cobin 19. you can get lower rates for in-person transactions compared to a virtual terminal you can get paid faster compared to paper invoices you can approach customers personally and close the sale before they leave due to hesitance about a purchase being deterred by a long line or for pretty much any other reason you can collect upfront payments rather than chasing invoices later on dealing with higher card not present fees with a virtual terminal you can accept credit cards without a traditional point of sale system you can accept credit cards without a traditional merchant account get a free or inexpensive pos all you need is your phone a free mobile app and a credit card reader which you may also be able to get for free access other functions such as basic inventory web store integration invoicing social media selling and more so how can you wade through the large list of mobile credit card processors and figure out which one is best for you and what should you prioritize when looking at mobile credit card readers well here are some important features to look out for that might help you out there should be no long-term contract pay as you go like square or month-to-month pricing like healthsum is ideal you don't want to be stuck in a pricey contract for a service you don't like the reader and the app that accompanies the reader need to be robust and easy to use with all the features your business needs not all cards have a magnetic stripe anymore so being able to accept chip cards makes things easier for your customers to pay it also protects your business in terms of your emv liability nfc support makes it easy for customers to pay with their phone apple watch or contactless credit card more and more customers are expecting nfc support especially during these socially distanced times you need good battery life since you'll likely be using the reader on the go you need one that will go at least a day without a charge one to three days for funding is standard but ideally it's nice to have next day deposits and an instant transfer option things commonly go wrong in the world of payment processing so reliable 24 7 support is a must
it's certainly not a bad thing to have a plug-in reader as a backup but a wireless bluetooth credit card reader ensures maximum compatibility regardless of the phone or tablet maker or model a wireless credit card reader that connects via bluetooth will also typically be emv capable and usually though not always be able to accept nfc payments as well so what is the best small business credit card reader no single reader suits every business type so you need to consider your businesses particular needs having a solid understanding of the payment processing industry makes finding your ideal solution much easier factor in these considerations when making your choice what is your monthly processing volume a higher volume merchant will likely benefit from a mobile reader that comes with your own merchant account do you sell online or in person online merchants need a mobile point of sale app that includes e-commerce your industry budget and
customer needs are some other factors to consider and in my opinion square has the all-around best mobile credit card reader as it can work for any industry and is compatible with virtually any device with both plug-in and wireless credit card reader options it's also free and has all the features most businesses will need however the other mobile point of sale processors on this list have advantages for different kinds of sellers so it really depends on what your needs are as a small business and that does it for today's article.
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