Mobile Credit Card Machines For Small Business

If you’ve always wanted to set up your own small business, then just one question – what’s stopping you? Sure you’ll need a lot of grit and determination (and funding) but why not? In fact, every year more and more small business start up and we think it’s brilliant. After all, who doesn’t want to be their own boss! Here’s the thing though, if you’re either looking to setup a mobile business – or if you already have a mobile business then there’s one thing you’ll need lots of – customers! As you’ll know already, customers are the key ingredient of any business (large and small) and it’s going to be very important to make sure that they’re happy! After all, no-one wants a bad experience!

So how easy it is to keep customers happy? Well there are lots of ways, from things like pricing to service and location too. In fact, as your business is mobile – it’s often a good idea to really promote this, along the lines of “we come to you!”. Let’s face it, most consumers are lazy so the idea that they can get you to come to their home to provide a service will make them feel happy. What services are we talking about? Well anything from dog walking and hairdressing all the way through to boiler servicing and even car MOT’s too. Of course there more examples, but if your business is mobile then you know customers will love that ‘at home’ experience.

Now, here a thing – we’ve talked about customers, prices and service – but what about getting paid? Now, in a typical high street business the business will have a cash till / credit card machine (like you see in most shops) but they’ll also have a way to support card payments too. So, if your business is mobile how are you going to accept payments? Let’s explore the two main options and their benefits and drawbacks.

This sounds fairly straightforward. It’s as easy as 1,2,3 to accept cash (notes and coins) and all you’d really need is some change. People still pay by cash, especially at take aways and barbers so there’s still good demand for cash. On top of this, it’s easy to pay into your bank too. Don’t forget though the paper notes are no longer valid tender (but the polymer notes are still legal tender). Like most businesses, cash is still an important way to get paid and is far from obsolete.

So, what’s the problem with cash? Well firstly, there’s the situation where your customer tells you (after they’ve used your service or purchased your products) that they don’t have enough cash. This can be a real snag, as you’re left with the option to “come back later” or wait for them to visit the cash machine. Plus there’s the risk of getting caught out with fake bank notes too – or worse – inadvertently accepting the old style paper bank notes which aren’t really legal tender anymore.

Accepting card payments is really simple and quick. In fact, mobile credit card machines are becoming more and more popular for small business. In fact, card and contactless payments are increasingly in demand from both existing and potential customers – so much so, that it’s true to say that only accepting cash can be a potential deterrent for prospective customers. Of course, one of the most noticeable benefits of taking card payments is that it’s instant, fuss free and doesn’t require cash (or change for that matter). In fact, it’s widely believed that a high proportion of impulse purchases are from consumers who have a card on them!

So what’s the drawback of card payments? Only really card fees which are usually very low and also internet connectivity and their battery life. There’s a bit in here so we’ll cover each bit separately.

When you take a card payment, there will be a small fee that is applied by the payment provider. It’s important here to say that the fee can be a fixed monetary amount and/or a percentage of the transaction. In addition, there may also be a rental fee (if the mobile credit card machine is purchased on a contract).

Some of the big brand mobile card readers tend to rely on your mobile phone in order to connect to the internet. Whilst this sounds simple enough, it can pose two big problems. Firstly, if your mobile phone doesn’t have good GRPS / 3G / 4G signal strength then taking the payment can be fraught with delays and problems (especially if the connection cuts out). The other problem is tethering (i.e. connecting your mobile credit card machine to your mobile phone) – it can be a tricky process and often less than reliable too.

Why connect to the internet?
You might be wondering why the mobile card reader needs to connect to the internet? Well it’s how it connects to the payment provider in order to take payment. In simple terms, if your internet connection is unreliable or if your mobile phone has problems connecting to your card reader then it’s highly likely your customers patience will be tested!

This is important to cover because there’s two parts to this – the battery life of your mobile phone and the battery life of your card machine. As soon as your card machine is tethering, it’s draining the battery – which can be a problem if you’re taking payments all day long. Also, if the battery life of your card reader isn’t great then what happens if it runs out of battery? No payments can be taken – what a nightmare!

So where do you start? Easy, you need a card machine with a long battery life that can connect directly to the internet without having to reply on a mobile phone. Well that’s where we can help! It’s simple, easy and quick to get a quick quote from us and best of all – there’s no obligation. So even if you’re only thinking about getting a new mobile credit card machines for small business then ask us and find out just how inexpensive it can be.