From Square to PayPal: 8 mobile credit card readers and what they cost – CP

Source: The Associated Press
Jan 7, 2015 13:50

By Joseph Pisani

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

NEW YORK _ Need to accept credit cards for your small business? You have more reader options than ever. Online retailers Amazon and Etsy are the latest companies to offer the devices, which plug in to smartphones and tablets and let business owners accept credit cards anywhere. They join established players such as Square and Inuit GoPayment.

The card readers work the same: They take a percentage of each transaction when a card is swiped, usually about 3 per cent. They charge more if the card needs to be manually typed in, instead of swiped. Most work on Apple’s devices and those that use Google’s Android operating system.

Here’s a look at some of the players:

AMAZON LOCAL REGISTER

The online retailer charges $10 for its reader, but credits the money back after it is used. Amazon charges 2.5 per cent for every card swipe and 2.75 per cent when card info is typed in manually.

CHASE MOBILE CHECKOUT

Chase’s reader is aimed at mid-sized businesses that would use it more frequently. Users must have an account with Chase. It charges $9.95 a month for the reader, plus a minimum of $25 worth of goods must be sold a month, or the business owner must pay the difference. It charges between 1.99 per cent and 3.76 per cent, plus 25 cents, for each swipe. Chase sets the cost, depending on the type of business. Those interested need to ask Chase for fee information.

ETSY CARD READER

This reader, from online marketplace Etsy, charges 2.75 per cent per swipe and 3 per cent, plus 25 cents, for manually entering the card number. You’ll need a shop on Etsy to use it. Demand for the Etsy card reader was higher than expected when it was unveiled last fall, and the company ran out of readers in late October. The company says it will have more in early 2015.

INTUIT GOPAYMENT

This card reader comes from Intuit, the company behind accounting software QuickBooks. It has two plans: one has no monthly fee and charges 25 cents per transaction, plus 2.4 per cent per swipe and 3.4 per cent for typed-in card numbers. The other is $19.95 a month and charges 25 cents for every transaction, but charges lower per cent fees: 1.75 per cent for swiped cards and 3.15 per cent for typed-in card numbers.

PAYPAL HERE

The payment processor’s card reader costs 2.7 per cent per swipe. For card numbers that are added manually, the cost is 3.5 per cent, plus 15 cents.

PAY ANYWHERE

This reader comes from North American Bancard, a credit card processing company. It charges 2.69 per cent per swipe and 3.49 per cent, plus 19 cents, for manually entered numbers.

SPARK PAY

Owned by Capital One, Spark Pay has two plan options. One, aimed at merchants with a lot of credit card transactions, has a $9.95 monthly fee and charges 1.95 per cent for Visa, MasterCard and Discover cards, 2.95 per cent for American Express cards and 2.95 per cent for card numbers that are typed in. The other plan has no monthly fee and charges 2.70 per cent for Visa, MasterCard and Discover cards, 2.95 per cent for American Express cards and 3.7 per cent for typed-in transactions.

SQUARE

The company takes 2.75 per cent of each swipe, and 3.5 per cent plus 15 cents for credit card information that is typed in.

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ONLINE:

Amazon Local Register: http://localregister.amazon.com/

Chase Mobile Checkout:
http://www.chasepaymentech.com/mobilecheckout/

Etsy Card Reader: https://www.etsy.com/reader

Intuit GoPayment:
http://payments.intuit.com/mobile-credit-card-processing/

PayPal Here:
https://www.paypal.com/webapps/mpp/credit-card-reader

Pay Anywhere: http://www.payanywhere.com/

Spark Pay: https://www.sparkpay.com/

Square: https://squareup.com/