Choosing a Credit Card Terminal

When you apply for a merchant account, one piece of information you'll need to know is whether or not you are going to need a Point of Sale (POS) credit card terminal.  A credit card terminal allows you to process a credit card by sliding the card through a piece of equipment (the terminal).  You need a terminal when you have a business that requires in person contact with customers- retail stores,  restaurants, etc.  Terminals are primarily for businesses that process credit cards that are present during the transaction.

How do you choose the right credit card terminal with so many choices available to you?

You need to address your specific needs for a terminal in order to select the best option for your business.  In some cases, multiple businesses will share a single credit card terminal.  Some terminals are able to hold up to 9 individual merchant accounts.

You'll want to consider how your terminal will transmit data.  Will you be transmitting through a phone line or the internet?  Through a wired connection or a wireless one?  Most terminals use a phone line to dial out and connect to the merchant account provider. The average transaction takes about 10 seconds.  You can share the phone line with other devices like compute rmodems and fax machines, but you don't want to have call waiting on the same line as it will cause problems with processing in progress.

Some of the newer credit card terminals use an IP connection instead of phone lines.  With businesses that already have high-speed internet access (cable or DSL for example), it is in your best interest to use an IP connection terminal to save money on the phone line and also to speed your credit card transactions up from 10 seconds to about 3 seconds.

Another option is to choose a credit card terminal with a wireless connection, called a wireless terminal.  It communicates with the merchant account provider like a cell phone allows you to talk wirelessly.  This is the perfect solution for businesses that travel to trade shows or other events where they might need to process credit cards away from the store location.

Many customers prefer to shop  using their ATM cards.  If you would like to accept ATM cards with your credit card terminal, you'll need to have a PIN pad that allows the customer to enter in the personal identification numbers to verify the account.  Some debit cards can be processed without a PIN pad if you can run them as a check card. (They typically have a Visa or Mastercard logo on them).

Once you've determined the type of terminal your business needs, you can narrow your choices further by comparing prices.  Purchasing the equipment is almost always a better option than leasing as leasing the terminal equipment will cost you more in the long run.