How to Accept Credit Card Payments in Store or On the Go

What kind of business do you run? If you are dealing with food products – for example – you might have a brick-and-mortar fast food store, or a sit-down premises with a delivery service. Or you may have a food truck, whether it’s parked in one spot or driving around the city. You may even have some combination of these, with a county-wide ice cream truck and physical stores, for example.

In all these cases, the freshness of your food matters, but so does the speed of your payment process. You don’t want every customer to hover at the register for ten minutes trying to pay. This could drastically limit your takings for the day. So the faster and more efficient your payment process, the better.

The fastest option is accepting credit cards. Transactions are verified in less than a second, and you don’t even have to look for change. There are three main options for your brick-and-mortar store or your mobile one. The most common in-store option is a keypad terminal. Customers swipe or insert their credit cards to make instant payments.

Mobile Swipers and Smartphone Apps

An option for merchants on the go is to use a portable card reader. These are the same as electronic keypads, except they have battery power and a cellular phone connection, so they can be used anywhere without having to be plugged into anything.

Another convenient payment option – either in-store or on the go – is the smartphone app. A popular version uses a small, portable dongle that attaches to your smartphone via a headphone jack or data port. The dongle has a credit card slot, so customers can slip their cards in, just like they would on an ordinary electronic keypad.

For more information on how to accept credit card payments in-store or on-the-go, or to sign up for a merchant account, please call (888) 924-2743 or go to Charge.com.