Accepting Credit Card Payments On Your Phone
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Sep 18, 2024
Filed under: Credit Card Processing, Mobile Payments
How Businesses Benefit From Credit Card Readers
Explore four ways a mobile credit card reader can help your small business accept payments and better serve your customers.
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WRITTEN & RESEARCHED BY
Editor & Senior Staff Writer
Last updated onUpdated
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REVIEWED BY
Expert Contributor
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Key Takeaways
- Mobile credit card readers let businesses accept in-person payments at events, markets, customer locations, and other mobile settings.
- A portable reader can serve as a backup payment option and help reduce checkout lines during busy periods.
- Restaurants can use mobile readers or smart terminals for faster tableside payments.
A credit card reader is a portable device that lets businesses accept in-person debit and credit card payments in various of settings.
In this guide, we’ll look at the main benefits of using a mobile card reader outside of a traditional countertop POS setup.
The Benefits Of Credit Card Readers
Mobile credit card readers give businesses more flexibility in where and how they accept payments. Here are four common benefits.
Accept Payments On The Go
Portable card readers are useful for food trucks, market vendors, contractors, event sellers, and other businesses that operate away from a traditional checkout counter.
Compared with manually entering card details through a virtual terminal, card-present payments made with a reader generally have lower processing fees and less fraud risk. Most modern readers also accept contactless cards and digital wallets such as Apple Pay and Google Pay.
Keep A Backup Payment Option
A mobile card reader can provide another way to accept payments if your primary POS system or register becomes unavailable.
Some readers support offline payments, but these transactions aren’t authorized until the device reconnects to the internet. If a payment is later declined, the merchant may be responsible for the loss.
Reduce Checkout Lines
During busy periods, employees can use mobile readers to take payments away from the main register. This can shorten lines, serve customers faster, and reduce abandoned purchases.
Mobile checkout can be especially useful for retailers during sales, holidays, and other high-traffic periods.
Accept Tableside Payments
Restaurants can use mobile readers or smart terminals to take payments directly at the table. Customers can review the bill, add a tip, split the check, and complete the transaction without handing their card to an employee.
Tableside payments can speed up checkout, improve card security, and help restaurants turn tables more efficiently.
Get Started With A Credit Card Reader
A mobile card reader can help your business accept payments in more places and serve customers faster.
Learn more about how credit card readers work, then compare the best credit card readers to find the right option for your business.
Erica Seppala
Editor & Senior Staff Writer at Merchant Maverick
Erica has been writing about small business finance and technology since 2008. She joined Merchant Maverick in 2018 and specializes in researching and reviewing business software, financial products, and other topics to help small businesses manage and grow their operations. Her expertise has been cited in MSN, Reader's Digest, Vox, U.S. News & World Report, and Real Simple. She is a Certified ProAdvisor for QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Payroll, a graduate of Limestone University, and currently resides in Greenville, South Carolina.
View Erica Seppala's professional experience on LinkedIn.
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