Shannon Vissers

Rapid Finance (formerly Rapid Advance) is an alternative small business funder. It offers merchant cash advances (MCAs) and short-term business loans to small businesses seeking short-term funding. Unlike many of its competitors, it provides a number of variations on the typical MCA, leading to a slightly longer application process but also better rates in many cases.

We’ve identified seven different features that you need to look at very carefully in selecting a merchant account provider. They’re all equally important, and you’ll want to examine each of them when evaluating any merchant account provider you’re thinking of signing up with. While it’s unlikely that you’ll be able to come up with a precise estimate of your overall costs, you should be able to get a pretty good idea by evaluating these seven features.

Clover Go looks like any other mobile processing app out there. Unfortunately, small businesses are going to encounter inconsistent pricing and potentially awful customer support. Check out our Clover Go review to see if it’s really the best option for you!

Clover POS is powerful and flexible, but it’s not a perfect point of sale system. If you’re not impressed by Clover, check out these alternatives to find a POS system that better suits your needs!

Upstart is an online lending platform that offers consumer loans to qualified borrowers. It has relaxed credit score requirements, competitive terms and fees, and an easy application process. Upstart is an excellent resource for many people who do not fit the traditional model of a loan borrower.

Kiva offers crowdfunded microloans and is one of the least expensive forms of financing available to business owners. It is definitely worth checking out if you run a community-oriented business that needs a small infusion of cash. It is suitable for startups but not for large businesses.

Credibly is an online lender that offers short-term financing in the form of business loans and merchant cash advances. Credibly’s qualifications are much lower but its origination fee is high. If you’re in a pinch and don’t have access to other financing options, Credibly might be the lender that works for your business.

Designed to be a smaller, more accessible version of the popular Clover Station POS system, the Clover Mini comes with a built-in receipt printer, a USB hub (to allow for interface with peripheral hardware), and a customer-facing camera. Read on for more details and a comprehensive review of the Clover Mini.

At first glance, Clover seems like an ideal POS solution. It’s flexible, feature-rich, and functional. However, it’s not a cheap product. But if you want a simple, attractive POS solution — and don’t mind taking a risk on customer service and payment processing — you could do a lot worse than Clover and its many different offerings.

Can you buy a used Clover POS? Absolutely! Should you? No! While you can certainly find a used Clover POS system for sale on eBay or Amazon, it’s never a good idea to buy one. Used Clover POS are not reprogrammable and new systems are always sold with a merchant services contract — which you should never enter lightly.