Are You Wired In to the Right Credit Card Machine?

Dave Thomas

November 26, 2012


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Small business owners are always looking for the extra advantage that allows them to not only retain current customers and find new ones, but stay one step ahead of the competition.

In a day and age when consumers want their products and services yesterday and not today, having a wireless option when it comes to accepting credit cards for purchases just makes sense, not to mention more cents.

For the small business owner who is on the go and needs to make sales on a regular basis, having a wireless credit card machine in place is a great start.

Among the advantages to such technology are:

1. The machines work for cards wherever you may need to do business, including trade shows, visits to client homes and offices, and numerous event settings that at one time only accepted cash;

2. You can leave your office to do sales, meaning there is the ability to see more revenue than if you were just tied to sales in your business location;

3. By using this form of technology, your small business can qualify for cheaper processing rates.

For starters, shop around and get several quotes from wireless machine providers, allowing you to find the best machine and customer service all rolled up in one.

Once you have the machine in place, here are the basics:

* The merchant slides a customer’s card through the machine, entering the full amount of the sale. The terminal then hooks up with a radio tower (similar to a cell phone) and transmits the credit card details, along with the amount of the sale;

* After the information is transmitted to the processor, it is then forwarded onto the financial institution that authorized the credit card. Once that card is determined to be valid and the amount of purchase is shown to be available on that card, the amount is set aside for the merchant;

* The financial institution returns either an approval number of a message decline the sale to the processor;

* The information is returned to the mobile credit card machine, with the transaction being finalized in seconds;

* Finally, the funds will be moved from the card-providing bank to be deposited into the merchant’s checking account, generally within a couple of business days.

While the process of acquiring a wireless credit card machine is typically rather smooth, it is important that the small business owner read the fine print when signing up with a provider.

Small business owners need to be cognizant of any and all processing fees, making sure that they understand the application process to avoid any undisclosed fees at the time their merchant statement arrives.

With identity theft always a big concern for both consumers and business owners, merchants want to make sure that any wireless credit card processing terminals they invest in are all PCI (Payment Card Industry) compliant. In doing so, consumer credit card information is protected against security leaks.

As your small business looks to increase its revenue stream, take credit if you’ve gone ahead with using a wireless machine.