About Mobile Credit Card Terminals
Mobile credit card terminals allow businesses to provide credit card service to their customers wherever they are, adding to the convenience of the transaction. There's no need to fool around with any paper forms or return to a store or office to charge a card. The only catch to purchasing such a terminal is that the merchant will need to pay for wireless fees in addition to the standard charge card surcharges.
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Function
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A mobile credit card terminal works just like a regular terminal, only it communicates with the card companies with a wireless transmission instead of a wired one. The terminal company also generally adds on charges per transaction depending on its size. Despite the extra cost, a mobile terminal often pays off for certain kinds of businesses like those that travel to meet customers rather than the other way around. The added convenience both to the business and the customer can end up paying off. A company like Merchant Warehouse lists many such machines from many different vendors.
Considerations
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There are other options beyond using a standard mobile credit card terminal. It's often much less expensive to use a credit card terminal that hooks up to a cell phone, utilizing the existing cellular plan to connect to the Internet to make the transaction. Vendors like Aircharge (see Resources below) make cell phone hardware accessories that allow for credit card transactions on the run.
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Types
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Use a standard credit card terminal hooked into a laptop with a wireless Internet connection to make wireless transactions without any special hardware or paying any additional fees. While this may not be quite as convenient as the alternatives--and you can't always find a publicly accessible wireless network--the low cost makes it an attractive alternative to the other options.
Potential
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Contact your bank for potential special deals on mobile credit card processing. Bank of America, for example, offers special deals for different businesses that go through them for mobile credit card service and hardware. Check to see if your business can qualify for reduced fees for mobile card processing. It could make the difference between running at a profit and at a loss.
Benefits
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The primary benefit that mobile credit card terminals provide is convenience to the customer. The additional fees can be passed on to the consumer. The ease of payment helps to ensure security as well. It could also save time that would otherwise be spent transporting a customer to a wired credit card terminal.
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Resources
- Photo Credit The Truth About, Flickr
