How to Install Small Business Credit Card Terminals

Small businesses in this day and age need to accept credit cards to stay competitive. Every merchant, from sculpture art to the fruit stand, benefits from taking credit cards, especially since few people carry cash anymore. Here is how to install a credit card terminal so your small business can increase its revenue.

Things You'll Need

• Merchant account
• Credit card terminal
• Phone line or Internet connection

Instructions

1. Open a merchant account. This might seem simple enough, but some companies that deal with this type of business have hidden fees and were called into account by the Federal Trade Commission. Be sure you read all the fine print before you sign any contract with your merchant services representative.

2. Choose the type of credit card terminal that suits your business needs. Wireless terminals are popular for trade show and craft show vendors, while online merchants like the security of individual software packages the include an online terminal for their customers.

3. Hook up the terminal. You need some sort of communication device that enables you to send and receive the information of your customers' credit cards through the modem in the terminal you choose. Wireless terminals have a wireless radio modem that uses a cellular network.

4. Install the paper required by the terminal. Most terminals now use thermal paper that makes for quiet, fast printing.

5. Turn on the credit card terminal. This should be as easy as flipping a switch. You now need to establish the communication line and test the equipment. The merchant credit card processing company or the manufacturer of your terminal should provide this testing process to you.