Many Canadian Small Business Owners are not sure what type of Point-of-Sale Terminal would be best for their business needs. This article will describe the 4 different types of Point-of-Sale Terminals available to Canadian for Retail Payment Processing.
A Point-of-Sale Terminal is also know as a Debit and Credit Card Terminal. It is the terminal that merchants use to process debit transactions, interac transactions, visa transaction, mastercard transactions, american express transactions, etc. The four different types of Retail Point-of-Sale Terminals are:
1. Dial-up Point-of-Sale Terminal
2. IP Point-of-Sale Terminal
3. Wireless Point-of-Sale Terminal
4. Cellular Point-of-Sale Terminal
Dial-up Debit & Credit Card Terminals:
They connect via any working telephone line. The advantage of a Dial-up Debit & Credit Card Terminal is that they are usually less expensive. The disadvantage of Dial-up Debit & Credit Card Terminal is that it takes longer to do a transaction, usually about 15 seconds. So if time is money this is not the most efficient debit & credit card terminal. The second dis-advantage to a Dial-up Debit & Credit Card Terminal is if you do not use a dedicated phone line for the Terminal then you can not be on the phone at the same time as you are processing a payment transaction. However, a Dial-up Debit and Credit Card Terminal is the most cost effective for most Small to Medium Sized Businesses.
IP Debit and Credit Card Terminals:
IP means connect through your High-Speed Internet Provider. The advantage to an IP Debit and Credit Card Terminal is the speed. Transactions are usually processed in under 3 seconds. Another benefit is you can run many Debit and Credit Card Terminals through one Internet connection (up to 200 units). IP can be cost effective if you have been using multiple Debit & Credit Card Terminals with all their own dedicated phone lines, because you would not need all those lines once hooked up through DSL. However, most IP Debit & Credit Card Terminals have a “gateway” fee of around $10/month.
Wireless Debit and Credit Card Terminals:
Wireless means it will works like a cordless phone and can be connected via dial-up or IP. A Wireless Debit and Credit Card Terminals are used at restaurants where you can bring the terminal to the customer’s table.
Cellular Debit and Credit Card Terminals:
Cellular means it will work like a cell phone giving as much mobility as a cell phone would. A Cellular Debit and Credit Card Terminal would be most used for business’s that do not have a fixed location. If you do most of your sales via Trade Shows or you provide mobile services, like dog grooming, well then you would want to use a Cellular Debit and Credit Card Terminal.
Matthew Hunt is a Merchant Service Specialist in Canada. He has been involved in the Canadian Payment Processing Industry for over 3 years. Matthew has helped hundreds of Small Business Owners connect to the ‘right’ Payment Processing Solution while capturing Low Merchant Account Rates. For more info on Matthew and Canadian Merchant Services go to: http://www.cutmyposfees.com
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