Best Mobile Credit Card Readers For iPhone & iPad Credit Card Processing

Square’s mobile POS app, called Square Point of Sale, gets a lot of praise from mobile sellers for its exceptionally robust and varied feature set while offering two different card readers.

• The Square Point of Sale app offers reporting, customer engagement tools, inventory and team management, invoicing, gift cards, and much more — it’s one of the best mPOS feature sets around.
• The free Square Reader for magstripe comes in two versions: one with a headset jack for older iPhones and one with a Lightning connector for newer iPhones. It just takes swiped transactions, so it’s only appropriate for light/occasional sales due to the inferior security of magstripe tech. Still, it’s one of the only free credit card readers currently on the market.
• The Square Reader for contactless and chip accepts chip cards, NFC (contactless) cards, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. It doesn’t accept magstripe payments, but you can use the free reader for those if necessary. It is currently being sold in two versions: first-generation and second-generation. Both share the same basic functionality, but the second-generation reader sports a longer battery life, swaps the micro-USB charging port for a USB-C port, and costs $10 more.
• If you’d rather take payments on an all-in-one device that doesn’t need to be paired with your iPhone, there’s Square Terminal. This wireless touchscreen device takes chip card and NFC payments, runs Square POS natively, and contains a built-in receipt printer.

Square Hardware Cost

• Square Reader For Magstripe: $0
• Square Reader For Contactless & Chip (second generation): $59
• Square Reader For Contactless & Chip (first generation): $49
• Square Terminal: $299

Square Payment Processing & Software Pricing

• Processing Fees: 2.6% + $0.10 per card-present transaction
• Monthly Fees: $0 for the basic POS; $29-$69/month/location for advanced industry-specific POS options

The credit card reader fees charged by Square are pretty standard for the payment processing industry, though you can find providers that either charge a lower percentage fee (PayPal) or that don’t charge a fixed per-transaction fee (Shopify and SumUp).

Our guide to Square pricing goes into further detail.

Square is available on a month-to-month basis. There are no long-term contracts to sign, no early termination fees, and no monthly minimums.

Just be aware that Square is a payment service provider (or PSP) and not a full merchant account provider. With PSPs, you’ll face an increased risk of withheld funds and account terminations. Thankfully, there are steps you can take to minimize the chances of this happening.

You’ll get the following features with Clover Go:

• The Clover Go mobile app gives you sales tracking, paperless receipts, an offline mode, order management, and an outstanding inventory mode for an mPOS app. However, these features (along with other robust abilities) are reserved for paid plan subscribers.
• The Clover Go card reader is an ideal all-in-one mobile card reader that accepts swiped/dipped/tapped credit and debit card transactions, along with Google Pay, Apple Pay, and Samsung Pay.

The pricing listed below only applies when you buy directly from Clover.com, not when you buy from one of the many Clover resellers.

Clover Go Hardware Cost

The Clover Go card reader costs $49.

Clover Go Payment Processing & Software Pricing

• Processing Fees: 2.6% + $0.10 per transaction
• Monthly Fees: $0 (Payments plan) or $14.95/month (Essentials plan)

Our guide to Clover pricing goes into further detail, covering Clover’s various terminal/register offerings and advanced POS packages, as well as Clover Go.

When you buy direct from Clover, you’ll get month-to-month pricing without a long-term contract, but you may be able to get a better deal with a reputable reseller, particularly if your sales volume is upwards of $10K/month.

One such reseller is Dharma Merchant Services. Sign up with Dharma, and you’ll get a Clover Go for $119 while paying $20/month for processing and $10/month for the device. This doesn’t sound great until you consider that you’ll only pay interchange + 0.15% + $0.08 per transaction. With this low processing rate, the higher your sales volume, the more you’ll save, despite the monthly fees.

A Shopify subscription gives you the mobile POS features you need, along with industry-leading eCommerce. Let’s discuss the features on offer:

• The Shopify POS app gives you print and email receipts, automatic tax calculation based on location, team management with custom staff permissions, reporting, and advanced inventory management, all paired with the online selling features Shopify is known for.
• For mobile in-person sales, Shopify offers the Bluetooth-enabled Tap & Chip Card Reader, which accepts dipped/tapped card payments, Apple Pay, and Google Pay (but not magstripe payments).
• If you want to bypass your iPhone entirely, Shopify offers its all-in-one Shopify POS Go touchscreen reader, which combines a card reader, barcode scanner, and touchscreen tablet that runs Shopify POS natively. Note: as of April 2024, this item is out of stock and must be backordered.

Shopify Hardware Cost

The Shopify Tap & Chip Reader sells for $49. The new all-in-one Shopify POS Go sells for $299.

If you’re unsure which reader you should use, we’ve explored the different types of credit card readers to help you decide whether to go with a touchscreen device or something less expensive.

Shopify Payment Processing & Software Pricing

• Processing Fees: 5% per transaction with Shopify Starter, 2.7% per transaction with Basic Shopify, 2.5% with Shopify, and 2.4% with Advanced Shopify
• Monthly Fees: $5/month for Starter, $29-39/month for Basic, $79-105/month for Grow, and $299-399/month for Advanced (you’ll pay the lower price shown if you opt for annual billing)

Shopify updated its $5/month Shopify Starter plan to allow you to use Shopify POS Lite with one location when you sign up. However, you’ll have to pay a whopping 5% per in-person transaction with this plan. For all but the smallest/most occasional sellers, this trade-off doesn’t make financial sense.

The vast majority of in-person retailers will be better off getting the $29-39/month Basic Shopify subscription or higher. You’ll pay far less for payment processing this way.

Shopify offers month-to-month and annual billing, both with no early termination fee or monthly minimum requirement. This is what we like to see from a merchant services provider.

Just know that if you choose annual billing, Shopify does not issue prorated refunds if you cancel your subscription partway through your billing term.

PayPal Zettle, PayPal’s mobile processing app, gives you a capable mPOS, an exceptional mobile card reader, and access to PayPal’s comprehensive ecosystem of merchant tools.

• The PayPal Zettle app supports QR code payments and offers an item library, reports, custom gift cards, refunds (partial and whole), discounts, and support for a full register setup.
• The Zettle Reader takes chip and NFC card transactions and supports PIN transactions (the most secure way to process debit charges), as the reader has a PIN pad and display screen like the advanced card readers found in Europe. It also takes Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay.
• Like Square and Shopify, PayPal Zettle now offers an all-in-one wireless touchscreen terminal: the Zettle Terminal. It takes chip, NFC, Apple/Google/Samsung Pay, and QR code payments, can be purchased with a built-in barcode scanner for $40 extra, and can be paired with a separate receipt printer and dock.

PayPal Zettle Hardware Cost

The Zettle Reader costs $29 for the first reader and $79 for all additional readers.

The all-in-one Zettle Terminal starts at $199. The version with a built-in barcode scanner goes for $239.

PayPal Zettle Payment Processing & Software Pricing

• Processing Fees: 2.29% + $0.09 per transaction
• Monthly Fee: $0

PayPal offers pay-as-you-go monthly agreements with no early termination fees and no monthly minimums. We always prefer to see this type of merchant agreement. Of course, as with other payment service providers, you’ll face an increased risk of an account hold or termination.

SumUp serves up a solid mPOS system and two unique card readers for mobile sales.

• The SumUp app offers an item library, tipping, basic analytics, multiple tax rates, email/text receipts, receipt printer connectivity, and QR code support — it’s not on par with Square’s mPOS, but it’ll do for many merchants.
• The SumUp Plus card reader is akin to the PayPal Zettle in that it accepts EMV/chip and contactless card transactions while providing a PIN pad for additional debit transaction security. It also takes Apple Pay, Google Pay, and (unlike the Zettle) magstripe transactions, making it a great value for the price.
• The SumUp Solo is a unique standalone terminal with a touch screen and a built-in SIM card with free unlimited 4G mobile data. It takes EMV and NFC payments (not magstripe) along with Google Pay and Apple Pay, offers smart tipping, lets you access reports, and can send digital receipts right from the screen.

SumUp Hardware Cost

• SumUp Plus Card Reader: $54
• SumUp Solo Card Reader (doesn’t need to be paired with your iOS device): $99

SumUp Payment Processing & Software Pricing

• Processing Fees: 2.75% per transaction
• Monthly Fee: $0

Thankfully, SumUp offers pay-as-you-go monthly arrangements with no long-term contracts, no early termination fees, and no monthly minimums. However, with SumUp being a PSP, the usual warnings about potential funding holds and account terminations apply here.

Here’s what Helcim has to offer, feature-wise:

• Helcim’s mobile POS features include email receipts, inventory and customer tracking, analytics, reporting, automatic tax calculation, unlimited invoice creation, and more. It’s a stellar feature lineup.
• The Helcim Card Reader has a PIN pad and display, it accepts chip + NFC (including Apple Pay and Google Pay) + PIN payments, and it works with iPhones, iPads, and PC and Mac computers.
• Helcim now offers a standalone Smart Terminal with a touchscreen and a built-in receipt printer.

Helcim Hardware Cost

The Helcim Card Reader costs $99, while the standalone Helcim Smart Terminal costs $329 (or five monthly payments of $68).

Helcim Payment Processing & Software Pricing

• Processing Fees: Interchange + 0.15% + $0.06 to interchange + 0.40% + $0.08, depending on your processing volume (process more, pay less)
• Monthly Fee: $0

Helcim may be the only full merchant account provider that charges no monthly fees whatsoever. It’s definitely not the norm.

With pay-as-you-go pricing and no early termination fees, monthly minimums, or even a monthly fee, Helcim offers the great terms and flexibility of Square & Stripe while also giving you the stability and reliability of a unique merchant account.