When your business has no fixed address
and you operate anywhere and everywhere you are needed it can cause difficulty
and even lose your business some custom if you can’t put in place the infrastructure
to take credit card payments. Whether you operate a pop up shop, stalls at
exhibitions or any other form of business on-the-move, here are some easy
alternatives for taking card payments on the go:
Chip and Pin/Chip and
Swipe Hardware
Compatible with most Android and Apple mobile and tablet
devices, iZettle offer both ‘chip and signature’ and recently developed ‘chip
and pin’ attachments. The attachment plugs into your device and allows you to take
instant payments from Mastercard, American Express, Visa and (only on chip and
pin) Maestro, with a 2.75% deduction on each payment with use of the software.
In the UK, the ‘chip and signature’ model will currently set
you back £20 with the offer of £20 worth of free transactions available when
purchased. The new ‘chip and pin’ model will set you back £49 before VAT but is
the recommended option for the UK as chip and pin is the chosen secure method
as well as being fast and easy to execute.
Unfortunately still only available in the US, Square is
definitely one to keep an eye out for coming over to the UK, hopefully sometime
in the near future. They offer a free card reader (swipe and sign) with every
sign up and the app is free to download as well. There is a 2.75% charge on all
payments, but no other apparent costs and they currently accept most major
credit cards.
Online Checkout/Apps
The current common method for mobile e-commerce and apps is
using ‘online wallets’ to bridge the gap when it comes to checking out fast and
securely via mobile websites and apps. The downfall is that entering card
details on a mobile device can be rather annoying, but once people have entered
details into these apps the details are stored unless they choose to delete
them, making for quicker return visits and checkouts. Here are some of the top
picks when it comes to mobile checkout software:
Stripe is the fastest growing web payment software in the
US, and they have finally released a beta version in the UK. Their charge is
slightly higher per transaction, with 2.9% of the transaction plus a 30 cent
charge on every transaction in the US version, but there are no sign up or
monthly fees and you don’t have to pay for the hardware or software so it all
works out worth your while, although a fixed charge per transaction may be off
putting if the transactions are only small.
Accepting multiple currencies and all major credit cards,
Paymill is the biggest UK competitor for Stripe. Extra features like
international payments do come at a cost though, and their transaction fees are
similar to Stripe, with 2.95% plus a 28 cent (euro) fee taken per successful
transaction.
Click-to-call
Offering the ability to complete the payment by adding the
charge onto your own mobile phone bill is a great alternative to other mobile
payment methods. It means there are no card details inputted at any time,
either into a mobile wallet or at the checkout itself, making it feel safer or
easier for those who are wary of inputting card details online or who have
difficulty with this. The downfall is there are often limits to how much a
person can spend in one transaction when done this way.
An old favourite when it comes to eBay purchases, Paypal is
being increasingly picked up as the checkout of choice for many e-commerce
mobile sites and apps. The fee is a little higher than other online checkouts,
standing at 3% plus a 20p transaction charge, but due to its popularity, this
card-less checkout method can be a selling point for people when it comes to
them deciding whether to purchase via mobile or not.
Companies offering
online and in-store checkouts
LevelUp is a go between when it comes to in-store payment
options and mobile checkouts, bringing the best of both worlds together in one
app. It has a favourable transaction fee of just 2%, one of the lowest we have
seen, and allows businesses to use software to create a built-in mobile
checkout in their own branded apps and/or have hardware enabling them to scan
the customer’s own personal LevelUp QR code with all their details stored.
Definitely one to watch, it already has over 1 million users and 5,000
merchants signed up!
Paypal’s biggest competition in e-commerce, Google Wallet
also offers consumers a fast and ecure way to input and save card details and pay
via mobile websites and apps. It is also a contender for the NFC side of the
market, with PayPass hardware available to turn mobile phones into scan-able
wallets for in-store use. As if it wasn’t looking tempting enough, their
transaction fees start from as low as 1.9% plus a 30 cent (USD) fixed
transaction fee.
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Labels: mobile payments