Payment Options: How To Pick The Right Credit Card Processor For Your Small Business
To remain competitive in an increasingly globalized marketplace, sole proprietors and franchise owners alike need to keep pace with changes in consumer behaviors. In recent years, it's become clear that U.S. consumers prefer to make purchases without the use of cash, and merchants need to be able to cater to that preference. As mobile payments are growing increasingly popular, especially among millennials, owners should invest in an all-in-one payment processing solution.
Square
Square shook up the world of payment processing when it launched in 2009 by offering lower rates that undercut the industry's biggest players and equipment that provided a new level of mobility to small business owners. With a smartphone and a $10 card reader, merchants can use the Square system to process credit and debit card transactions anywhere they have data service. The company has kept pace with innovations in the marketplace, so they now sell equipment that lets vendors accept payments from digital wallet services like Android Pay and PayPal, as well as EMV chipped payment cards. Square's fee structure is a simple flat rate of 2.75 percent per every swiped, dipped or tapped transaction. For every manually entered transaction, there is a fee of 15 cents plus 3.5 percent.
Clover by Bank of America
While many e-commerce firms have attracted a lot of attention in recent years, traditional financial institutions have also made entreaties into the mobile payment processing field. Bank of America's payment processing solution is Clover, which utilizes different POS systems to suit individual merchants' needs. The Clover Go allows vendors to accept payment cards and mobile payments made through platforms like Apple Pay using a card reader that can be attached to a smartphone. The Clover Station does everything the Go does, and it also allows merchants to process cash transactions. Bank of America's fees begin at 2.5 percent and 20 cents per transactions for companies that process a minimum of $4,999 a month in sales.
Braintree Payments
Braintree Payments offers vendors the ability to process transactions that are made with credit and debit cards, Apple Pay, Venmo and even Bitcoin. For their services, the PayPal-owned processor charges a flat rate of 2.9 percent and 30 cents per transaction. However, if your business processes more than $80,000 in transactions a month, the company does offer a special high volume rate. As an incentive to new users, first time Braintree customers get $50,000 worth of fee-free card transactions.
This article was written by Mario McKellop of Examiner.com for CBS Small Business Pulse.
