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

With its deep and extensive POS features, Square is ideal for businesses processing under $5,000/month and those that can’t get a traditional merchant account due to a lack of business history.

Its two mobile card readers are well-suited to smaller on-the-go merchants, but for more hardware options, read our guide to Square POS hardware card readers to learn about Square’s terminal and register bundles.

Square’s mobile POS app, called Square Point of Sale, gets a lot of love from mobile merchants 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.
• 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

Read our guide to Square pricing for more details.

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 know 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, so you’ll want to take care to minimize the chances of this happening.

Unlike many of the providers in this article, when you sign up with Clover Go, you get a card reader and mobile POS backed by a full merchant account, giving you more account stability than a third-party processor. As such, it’s great for mobile sellers with irregular processing volume (merchants who sell at conventions and the like). These merchants can sometimes run afoul of the hair-trigger flagging systems of third-party processors like Square and PayPal.

Note that numerous resellers offer Clover Go. Pricing, features, and support will vary with each reseller. All information herein is based on the Clover Go mPOS package sold directly at Clover.com.

Let’s go through the features you’ll get 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 Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay.

Remember, 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 $5K-10K/month. One such reseller is National Processing: sign up with NP, and you’ll get a free Clover Go while paying a $10/month fee and interchange + 0.2% + $0.10 per transaction.

Just look out for the shadier Clover resellers that employ independent sales reps. These local sales agents will try to get you to agree to multi-year contracts with early termination fees, equipment leases, predatory fees & rates — everything you want to avoid in a payment processing agreement. That’s why we recommend either signing up directly with Clover or going with a large, reputable reseller like National Processing.

Shopify made its name in eCommerce, but it has also become a POS powerhouse over the last several years.

Shopify’s 2.4-2.7% card-present processing rate is great for merchants with small average tickets because there’s no $0.10 fixed fee. With the 2.6% + $0.10 rate offered by competitors like Square/Clover Go/etc., that extra ten cents adds up when you’re processing lots of small transactions.

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 just released its new all-in-one Shopify POS Go touchscreen reader, which combines a card reader, barcode scanner, and touchscreen tablet that runs Shopify POS natively.

Shopify Hardware Cost

The Shopify Tap & Chip Reader sells for $49. The new Shopify POS Go sells for $399.

Shopify Payment Processing & Software Pricing

• Processing Fees: 2.7% per transaction with Basic Shopify, 2.5% with Shopify, and 2.4% with Advanced Shopify
• Monthly Fees: $39/month for Basic Shopify, $105/month for Shopify, and $399/month for Advanced Shopify if billed monthly ($29/month, $79/month, and $299/month if billed annually)

Note that Shopify has recently changed 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 5% per in-person transaction with this plan. For all but the smallest/most occasional sellers, this trade-off won’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.

If you choose annual billing, just be aware that Shopify does not issue refunds following plan cancellations.

PayPal now offers one of the lowest flat rates around for in-person sales. Combine that with a PIN-enabled iPhone card reader that sells for $20 less than the PIN-less $49 readers offered by some competitors and a solid mPOS app, and you’ve got a great package for smaller sellers who don’t want to pay too much, as well as new sellers needing an easy-to-use payments system.

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 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’s 2.75% transaction rate lacks a $0.10 fixed fee, giving a boost to sellers with small average tickets. The card readers are technologically advanced and reasonably priced, while the mPOS features are solid enough if you don’t need the advanced functionality Square offers.

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: $39
• SumUp Solo Card Reader: $129

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.

Helcim is a merchant account provider (like Clover Go’s parent company) that offers an advanced chip + contactless + PIN card reader, full POS capabilities, and, uniquely among the providers listed here, interchange-plus pricing, which works to the benefit of most merchants.

While interchange-plus pricing isn’t as easy to understand as the flat-rate pricing offered by the other companies listed here, most merchants will save money with Helcim over the likes of PayPal and Square. Combine this with an incredible array of POS features and a full merchant account, and you have an ideal mobile selling solution for higher-volume merchants.

Smaller merchants, however, may not need all the advanced POS functionality and may find the card reader expensive. Merchants with little to no processing history may not qualify for a merchant account anyway.

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 Hardware Cost

The Helcim Card Reader costs $109.

Additionally, Helcim has just released the Helcim Smart Terminal, a standalone touchscreen device with a built-in thermal printer, which sells for $349.

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

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.