Mobile Credit Card Processing: Processing Transactions on the Go

One of the major trends affecting retail commerce today is mobile credit cards which allow retailers and consumers to use cell phones to transact credit card payments for goods and services.   It used to be more onerous for  small businesses to accept credit cards ‘on the go’.  In order to do that they had to lug around a laptop to a trade show, a fair, an event or a meeting just so a customer could pay for a product or service.  However, technology is solving that problem.  Now, mobile credit card processing applications are enabling small business owners to accept payments from compatible mobile and smart phone devices.

PayPal president Dan Schulman estimates 80 percent of U.S. consumers will shop on their mobile phone during the holiday season and estimates that the global mobile payments will surge nearly 200% from $3 trillion to $8 trillion in 2020.

Vendors today from PayPal to Intuit and more are offering affordable plans for businesses that want to offer mobile credit card processing to consumers and are making the process user-friendly. For example, Dongle offers a “USB device that plugs into the headphone jack of a mobile phone or tablet. Card reader dongles work with special applications that allow business owners to swipe credit and debit cards on their tablets or smart phones to accept them as payment,” according to Hispanic Business.

Hispanic Business also reports that Intuit GoPayment offers both “…monthly flat-fee and per-transaction-fee payment options. Likewise, PayPal provides flat per-transaction fee and allows merchants to accept PayPal and checks, in addition to credit/debit cards.”

Security is an issue for the consumers, but despite the headline-grabbing security breaches at major retailers over the past year or two, a recent study by ACI Worldwide suggests that security concerns may be a tad overblown, “In the U.S., there’s a higher degree of confidence. For mobile wallets, almost all (94%) consumers think the information stored on their smartphone or tablet is at least somewhat secure, with 30% totally trusting their bank to protect their personal information. Only 6% of U.S. consumers say their mobile wallet data is not secure,” writes Martin. “[Nevertheless], for in-store shopping, not all consumers trust their data with retailers. In the U.S., 66% think most of the stores where they shop in person use security systems that are able to protect their card/account information. However, nearly a third (32%) of consumers don’t trust the stores to protect their data.”

The good news is that the advantages of mobile credit card processing now outweigh the concerns.  As security gets shored up by the major companies developing mobile credit card applications, businesses are finding a lucrative world of commerce available.  Here are some of the advantages to using mobile credit card processing:

• Additional sales. No matter where you are, you can process credit card payments. Mobile credit card processing, payments can be accepted at places like craft and trade shows as well as venues for sporting events and more.
• Most people have their mobile phones with them 24/7.  And now people can use it to take (and make) credit card payments.  It doesn’t get more convenient than that.
• As with all merchant services, it’s important to choose a reputable company, but if you have done your homework then security is not usually an issue.  Your customers can rest assured that their credit card information is safe.
• No Capital Costs. You do not need to invest in expensive technological equipment for mobile credit card transactions.  There are better ways to spend your business funding. All you need is a tiny credit card reader that attaches easily to your compatible mobile device.