Like every business, you sell something and need to take payments for your products or services. As cash payments continue to move out of favour, accepting credit card payments is a must for any business. The set-up required to accept credit card payments traditionally meant you would have to contact your bank for a merchant account and then order some expensive devices from them to process credit card transactions. You would then pay account fees, credit card fees and equipment fees just to enable your customer the “purchase by credit card” option.

On top of all the fees, in most cases the “purchase by credit card” options were standalone processing units which were not tied into your point of sale solution. This meant you had to track printed credit card purchase receipts, manage inventory manually and work with several devices to make the sale with the customer.

The future of payments now

What if your business requires you to be on the road when you need to take a payment? Perhaps you do work remotely or your business is working in a trade show. Your credit card payment device back at the shop won’t help you on the road. This is when you would fall back to the pen and paper recording of the credit card information so that you could enter all the day’s transactions when you made it back to the office. Unfortunately, if there was a problem with the credit card, when you finally did process the payment, you would then have to spend time tracking down the customer to straighten out the mess.

No wonder there are better options on the market today which can help to dramatically simplify the credit card payment process. Many of these options work with the equipment you already have or are very easy to buy anywhere, such as smart phones and tablets. These new better options are largely referred to as “mobile payments” solutions.

A leading mobile payment provider

One of the leading companies for mobile payments is a company called Square, which was created in 2010 by the creator of Twitter, Jack Dorsey. Originating in the USA, Square came to Canada back in 2012 as its first international expansion. Square’s credit card processing products are being used by millions of business large and small.

Fast and easy way to accept credit card payments

Like Paypal, for processing online credit card payments, Square has taken much of the trouble out of taking mobile payments. They don’t require you to setup a merchant account and Square’s card reader hardware for your mobile device is free. They charge a competitive blended credit card transaction fee of 2.75% per swipe and that is all!

Get started with your mobile payment solution

To get started simply navigate to the Square website and sign-up to get a free reader. Provide them with some personal and banking information and Square will send you your free credit card reader device for your mobile device. You download the app to your device and when your credit card reader arrives, you are ready to take credit card payments. After you take a payment, in one or two business days the credit card payment is processed and in your bank account.

With the newer Square register app you can take full advantage of a complete point of sale (POS) system. This register app enables all types of payments to be captured including cash, cheque and credit card. Other functionality such as digital or printable receipts help to round out this POS app. Also, you may want to check out Square’s new Square Stand credit card reader and device holder. By adding on a receipt printer and cash drawer you are ready to go. Take payments on site or on the road.

New providers of mobile payments

Many established credit card processing companies are now providing new mobile products to accept mobile credit card payments. Most likely if you already are accepting credit card payments your provider will also have a service available for mobile payments. Be careful to watch for all potential hidden costs such as monthly fees or equipment costs.