Top 6 Add-Ons For NCR Silver POS

Welcome to another round of the POS integration Hunger Games! In the past, we have seen the add-ons of many POS systems (Revel, Shopify, Vend, Breadcrumb, and ShopKeep POS) do battle. This week’s tribute? The add-ons of NCR Silver.

Developed by tech giant NCR Corporation (history’s first point of sale company), NCR Silver has earned its positive reputation in the POS universe and is currently one of the most adaptive and experienced systems on the market.

Kudos to you for going with a tried and true point of sale solution! Now it’s time to take advantage of the available add-ons. Here is a shortcut to the highest-rated NCR Silver integrations:

Loyalty Programs: PassMarket

As the only loyalty program integration NCR Silver offers, PassMarket wins this category by default, but the multitude of functions available would likely make this software a front runner anyway.

Instead of trying to force the kind of cookie-cutter rewards systems most add-ons provide, PassMarket lets you create custom loyalty programs for your business. You can send out special offers and coupons to your customers and communicate with them directly through their in-app Message Center.

PassMarket offers numerous features beyond just loyalty tools, including (but not limited to) Gifting, Order Ahead & Payment, Geo-location & Beacon based messaging, and Online Menus. This app integrates with Apple Pay, Android Pay, and Samsung Pay so your customers can place orders and pay with their devices.

The Takeaway: PassMarket is a mobile customer engagement solution that simplifies the shopping experience for your customers.

Payroll Services: Paychex

Paychex was founded in 1971 and now serves 600,000 businesses.This payroll service applies to small and large businesses alike. Online access to Paychex is available no matter where you are; support services include free mobile apps for both employers and employees (powered by iPhone and Android devices), access to a payroll specialist, and 24/7 support.

Features include:

• Payroll outsourcing
• Accounting
• Direct deposit/paycard reports ledgers
• State Unemployment Insurance (SUI)
• Credit card processing
• Tax credit
• Time and attendance services
• Payroll tax
• Sales tax payment
• Worker’s compensation
• Healthcare reform services

This software also gives you tools to develop employees, including recruiting, background check, flexible spending account (FSA), retirement, health and benefits, mobile app, and online employee access services.

If you think Paychex stops at excellent payroll features, think again. They offer 401(k) retirement plans and group health insurance plans with medical, dental, vision, life, short-term disability, and long-term disability coverage options. Paychex also provides outsourced HR services.

The Takeaway: Paychex goes above and beyond the realm of basic payroll, delivering services that alleviate the stress of administering healthcare, insurance plans, and 401Ks.

Business Operation: NCR Console (formerly CimpleBox)

NCR Console makes business management a piece of cake by providing necessary features like sales reporting and sales planning/targeting. Additional features include:

• Notifications (email or text)
• Consolidated dashboard
• Operational calendar
• Document management
• Employee schedule management
• Payment histories
• Advanced reporting for timecards, profit margins, labor costs, payroll, inventory, losses, cost-of-goods, customer feedback, and demographics
• Time-off requests
• Timecard management
• Labor cost projection
• Payroll integration capabilities
• Recipe management
• Product mix integration

NCR Console even integrates with a training module add-on that provides training video management, exam management, a resource library, certifications for completion of modules/lessons, competency tracking, and the ability to integrate with mobile devices.

Finally, NCR Console lets you gain much-needed feedback from your customers with operation execution surveys and customizable questionnaires.

The Takeaway: NCR Console is the digital business manager that will help you run your business like a well-oiled machine.

Payment Processor: Elavon

I’ve awarded Elavon (see our review) the title of highest-rated payment processing integration for NCR Silver (despite some pretty stiff competition) because of its surprisingly diverse and innovative features.

Elavon allows merchants to simply and swiftly process credit and debit cards. They also have a user-friendly reporting service you can access online at any time. Chip cards are becoming widespread due to their increased ability to protect your customers’ information. Elavon accepts chip card payments no matter where you are with their Converge Mobile app. You can also accept NFC (near field communications) payments, “Tap and Pay” payments, mobile payments from Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, Android Pay, and traditional magnetic stripe cards.

Elavon also offers reporting options with two reporting levels, allowing you to access comprehensive reporting and transaction history on a single dashboard. If you want to see how your company is doing, you can connect with your account through MerchantConnect and see your online statements, analyze payments, or view reports anytime, anywhere. This integration is also equipped with advanced security features which advise you on how to grow your business while also protecting your payment data. For more information, check out our review of Elavon.

The Takeaway: Elavon excels at delivering simple, effective, and sleek payment processing services so you don’t have to worry about a thing.

Mobile Payment: LevelUp

LevelUp (see our review) triumphs in this category due to high ratings and exceptional service.

With LevelUp, mobile payment processing is a cakewalk. All your customers have to do is download the app, enter their card information, then scan the QR code on their phone at checkout. They can even order ahead and accrue rewards.

Speaking of accruing rewards, did I mention LevelUp also offers a loyalty program? This app allows you to choose between numerous loyalty campaigns so you can select the one that best suits your business. LevelUp also has gift card capabilities that allow you to offer your customers either plastic or digital gift cards. This integration helps you engage your customers with surveys to gauge their feelings and opinions about your business. Beacon messaging alerts your customers whenever you offer new deals.

The Takeaway: LevelUp seeks to make your life easier on a plethora of levels with its diverse features.

Accounting: Xero

Founded in 2006, Xero (see our review) has managed to quietly upstage more traditional solutions (like QuickBooks) by virtue of innovative and diverse features.

Xero offers numerous avenues to meet merchants’ accounting needs. This app syncs with your bank account so you can automatically import transactions. With Xero, you can easily manage personal expenses and reimburse employees for business costs, stay up-to-date on orders and costs, accept payments from online services, automatically calculate sales and state tax rates, and track business assets, such as vehicles and office equipment.

Beyond just accounting, Xero boasts a multitude of other features:

• Invoicing
• Data security
• Inventory management
• Payroll
• Quotes
• Reporting

You can view the performance of your business through the Xero dashboard, track gains and losses across many currencies, visualize contacts and relationship histories with smart lists, and attach files to accounting transactions so your information is stored in one place. To find out more, check out our review of Xero.

The Takeaway: Xero is an excellent accounting option for small business owners.

So what do you think? Have I chosen the best add-ons for NCR Silver? Do you have any better suggestions? Feel free to contact us or comment below!