From coloring hair, to drawing caricature portraits, to driving a food truck: no matter what kind of business you run, you can start accepting credit card transactions with just a little bit of prep work.
If you already understand the services a credit card processing company provides, you’ve done half the battle. Your new goal should be to choose a credit card company that fits your unique business model. In this article, we’ll tell you how to do just that; plus, we’ll provide tips on how to choose the right credit card processor for the job.
Step 1: Get Up-to-Date on Card Readers
Before the internet, customers who used a credit card had to ask a cashier to manually stamp a payment form with their credit card information. Ten years ago, customers could simply swipe a credit card along a plastic terminal to enter their banking information automatically. In today’s world, your customers might pay with a credit card without even reaching for their wallets.
Modern credit card readers offer a series of reading technologies to cater to all types of card holders. A contemporary card reader should include one or more of the following compatibilities:
- Magstripe (“swipe”): The oldest of the three credit card technologies, magstripes are encoded card information stored along a black band fitted on the reverse side of a credit card.
- EMV (“insert”): Known widely as “the chip,” an EMV is an encrypted microchip embedded into a modern credit card. EMVs encrypt the bank information tied to a credit card, making them much the industry standard for safe transactions.
- NFC (“tap”): If you’ve ever seen someone tap their phone or credit card to pay, that specific card reader accepts Near Field Communications (NFC) technology. NFC compatibility is essential to receive smartphone-based payments such as Apple Pay or Google Wallet.
As you shop around for a credit card processing device, ensure that you’re meeting your customers’ expectations. If your reader only accepts swipes, but half of your customers want to tap their card, you’d be leaving a lot of revenue on the table. For an all-around remedy, most businesses will purchase a card reader with the functionality to accept all three compatibilities.
Step 2: Decide How You’ll Conduct Sales
When it comes to accepting payments at your place of business, you typically want to keep it short and sweet. Every mismanaged cash exchange or physical check accepted is one less customer helped, floor cleaned, or burrito folded. To make transactions easy and breezy, you’ll want to use a credit card reader that gels with your workflow.
Credit card readers are the hardware devices that your customer will use to swipe, insert, or tap their credit card or mobile payment. There are four basic kinds:
- In-store Device: Often used at a traditional retailer or service-based business, in-store card readers are fixed (i.e. immobile) touchpads, registers, or computers that accept card payments.
- Mobile Device: Perfect for wait staff, traveling businesses, or sales made at a satellite market, mobile devices are handheld card readers used for pick-up-and-go transactions.
- Online Marketplace Portal: Designed for a desktop or mobile website, online marketplace portals are bits of software embedded into your business’ e-commerce site to allow for online credit card transactions.
- Over-the-Phone Device: Typically used for a takeout order at a restaurant, over-the-phone devices are card readers that allow employees to enter customers’ credit card information manually (while the information is dictated over the phone). In-store devices with manual entry capabilities can function as over-the-phone devices.
Now you have to ask yourself: which of these devices work best for my business?
Let’s go through an example, using the fictional “Ollie’s Surf Shop.”
Let’s say Ollie operates a traditional storefront, selling surfboards and bathing suits by the coast. Ollie’s Surf Shop might only require a single, in-store card reader to do the trick.
In addition to Ollie’s main store, he decides to add a beachside surfing school, located a few miles from the main shop. As Ollie’s main store is too far for his instructors to use the shop’s in-store card reader, Ollie decides to purchase a mobile card for his instructors to accept payment right there on the beach.
Lastly, Ollie decides to start shipping his custom merchandise across the country. To accept credit cards from all over the United States, Ollie adds an online marketplace portal to his e-commerce website.
After you reflect on your business’ unique card-reading needs, it’s time to choose a payment processing company.
Step 3: Choose a Payment Processing Company
To speed up your search for a credit card processor, start with our list of top-rated companies. After hours of reading company reviews, filtering out disreputable companies, and triple-checking pricing details, our final list contains only the best credit card processing companies on the market.
Once on our site, follow these criteria to narrow down the choices and pick your credit card processor:
- Services Available: This one is easy: does your preferred company offer the type of credit card reader your business needs? Make sure the answer is “yes.” Whether you need a device for in-store, mobile, over-the-phone, online, or all of the above, ensure your preferred card processing company offers everything you need now and could need in the future.
- Pricing: Ensure that the company’s fee structure is in line with your budget. Be sure to research both the fees associated with run-of-the-mill credit transactions and how much it costs to own or rent the necessary hardware and software.
- Hardware/Software Design: Lastly, you’ll want to take a look at your preferred credit card processor’s hardware and software design to ensure it suits your company, both functionally and aesthetically. Ask yourself: do I like the way the mobile device would fit in my hand? Does the in-store reader require a tablet device? Does the software include a Point of Sale (POS) system?
Once you find the credit card processor that will help your business succeed, you’re ready to order and install your card readers.
Step 4: Select and Install Hardware
There are several varieties of in-store and mobile card readers, all of which will alter the way you handle customer transactions. To meet your business’s needs, you may need more than of the following devices:
In-store Device
- Countertop System: A countertop system is an all-in-one card reader that does not offer POS functionality. A countertop system will typically accept magstripes, EMVs, and NFCs, as well as record and print receipts.
- POS System: A POS system is an all-in-one cashier device. In addition to accepting all forms of physical or digital credit cards, POS Systems feature a customized cashier experience, can open and close a cash box, and can print or send receipts.
- Stand/Mount: A stand or mount is any device that is designed to add credit card reading functionality to a third-party tablet or computer. A standard swivel mount, for example, is designed to encase an iPad to allow customers to make card transactions, with the added bonus of a swivel function for cashier and customer viewing.
Mobile Device
- Mobile Hub: A mobile hub device is an easy-to-carry credit card reader that accepts cards without the aid of third-party technology.
- Extension: An extension is a small device that affixes to another piece of technology, usually a tablet or smartphone, to add credit card reading functionality. For example, your Android smartphone could accept magstripe payments with a card reader extension that connects through your phone’s auxiliary port.
Whether it’s a simple click of an aux cord or a stand-alone device that needs to be connected to the internet, hardware and software installation will be unique for each and every device. For the clearest installation guides possible, we recommend you speak to your credit card processing company directly.
Choose Your Credit Card Processor
Now that you know the steps required to find the perfect credit card processing company, it’s time to make your selection. For a head start, check out a list of our favorites:
The Best Credit Card Processors
Happy swiping!
