Portable Credit Card Machines For Small Business

Whether you’ve been in business for years, are starting up a new one, or are just thinking about setting up your first ever business, you know that one of the major things in day to day to day life are customers. Not only are they great for generating recommendations but they also help your business survive, by generating sales and profits to keep your business going and going. Of course, we all know that customers can be picky – sometimes on price, sometimes on service, or both – so making their lives easy is always going to be a valuable part of running your shop. After all, happy customers are what keep your small business going in the right direction.

Here’s the thing, how do you make customers happy? Well usually it’s a mixture of prices and service, both things that are very important – in today’s retail environment particularly. But what else is there? Well what about the generating sales? After all, if you’re prices are too high (or too low) then that will lower the expectation of the customer to make a purchase – reducing the likelihood of generating a profit for your business. So, assuming you’ve got the prices and service right, what then is the missing element? Well it’s how your take payments from your customers who visit your small business. Now it sounds easy but you’d be surprised how challenging it can be and we’ll cover those reasons next.

So how hard can it be? Well you remember we talked about service, that it’s really important? Well when it comes to taking payments you really need to make sure that you’ve got the right solution in place to service your customers. Sure there’s still cash, and you’ll always want to be taking cash but, what about card payments? Here’s the thing, there are so many different ones and many different ways for them to connect. On top of this, how can you be sure that you’ll get the one that won’t let you down when you need it most? As well as this, will you be paying over the odds on price and will you get loads of confusing features that both you and your customers, simply won’t need? It’s an important point to make because no-one wants to feel like a chump who went out and bought the wrong solution which, in turn, put off customers, dented the reputation of the business and caused the business owner constant regret. That’s why it’s important to get some first-hand reliable advice and tips on what to really look for, when you’re looking to get a new solution to accept card payments from customers of your small business. So, where do we start – well let’s just take a simple look at what you need from a card payment machine.

Let’s keep it simple by separating from you want, from what you need. So you need a card machine that accepts all the common methods of card payment (including the most popular debit card and popular credit card too) as well as newer ways to pay such as (Google Pay, Apple Pay and Samsung Pay) too.

What else do you need? This is where it gets really interesting – okay to back to service, because we all know that customers hate slow service. Why mention service? That’s because the time of how long or short your credit card machine provider takes to process the payment can really mean all the difference between an instant happy customer to a more unhappy customer who has to wait and wait to find out the payment has gone through. A great example of this can be the old fashioned credit card machines that connect to the telephone line (PSTN) to process payment.

Now, to be fair, telephone based card payment machines tend to be some of the most inexpensive, but, there is a hidden cost which is the time spent doing the transaction. You know, it can take ages because the machine has to dial up a number, connect to it – and then, and only then can it try and process the payment. Problem here is that the time is too long and, if the telephone line cuts out, or worse, someone tries to use the phone it won’t work.

So, you’d be far better off with a card machine that connects directly into your network / router. This makes for lightning fast credit card processing times with no delays at all. There is a WiFi option which is also fast, it just depends on how many computers / mobiles are using the WiFi at the same time. If you are wanting to use WiFi for processing payments, it’s a good idea to have a separate WiFi channel that’s only ever used by your card machine.

Now, let’s talk about what you want. There are two main options here, counter top (a card machine that’s attached the desk) like you see at a coffee shop and a card machine that’s hands-free and carried by the staff to the customer, so that they can pay at their table.

So let’s look at portable credit card machines for small business. If you’re looking to get one, it’s vitally important to make sure of a few things first. Firstly, have you really got reliable internet? This is key, because if it cuts out or slows down at times than it can really hamper your attempts to take payment which will slow down the payment experience and likely annoy customers. Secondly, how much will the card machine cost?

Well this is pretty easy to answer, because like mobile phones, you can own one outright or get one an easy contact (often from 12 to 48 months). Of course, if you get one that you own upfront then you know you won’t get many benefits. But, if you get a contract one – then you’ll find that there are benefits attached such as lower card fees, free rental options and other freebies too.

So where do you start? Easy get a quick quote right now from us, it’s simple, easy and quick and best of all – there’s no obligation. So even if you’re only thinking about it – see how little a portable credit card machine will cost.