Portable Terminals, A Brief History

A credit card machine is an instrument a machine or a terminal used to process credit card transactions at point of sale. The machine empowers you the merchant to swipe credit cards of your customers capturing the necessary data for transaction approval and funding.

A number of solutions exist, ranging from integrated registers to wired terminals, but portable options allow merchants to carry the capability to make a sale wherever they go.

Of the portable solutions available, you might want to consider a mobile or wireless processor that integrates with your smartphone. These phone systems are fast becoming the portable standard due to their convenience, easy setup and integration easy access.

For more professional or high volume needs, merchant account providers offer portable terminals for operation in the field so to speak, enabling your sales staff to meet and greet with customers, confident and capable of being able to close a sale on location.

With a portable machine you can offer your products or services on their doorsteps, and receive payment from them right away.

Incredibly convenient.

With portability in mind these credit card machines have been designed to be lightweight and easy to bring along. A number of terminals are being offered currently that you can carry in your pocket as unobtrusively as your cell phone.

Going Beyond Simply Accepting Payments

Basic functions of credit card processing machines include:

Accepting credit cards, debit cards, and other types of charge cards as a means to pay for the products or services purchased.
Secure transmission and processing of the data from the cards, allowing for instant payment verification.
Portable hand-held machines perform the two basic functions above wherever and whenever the merchants need the same.
Terminal Types

Portable credit card transaction processing machine are available that offer:

Wireless machines that can sit stationary on your location but are easily movable and transportable as the need arises.
Mobile phone processors perform the same functions as the wireless credit card machines except that these processors are hand held devices that can easily fit into the pocket and carry anywhere you need integrating with your current smartphone
Features

Basic features you can find in portable or mobile solutions are:

Magnetic strip readers that reads the data contained in the card
Key pad to input data for manual transaction processing
Receipt printer that prints out the transaction automatically
Screens, color, digital and touch that serves to provide instructions or can be used for point of sale signatures
There are certain models with additional features to extend or enhance the basic functions of the machine.

Relevance

In todays competitive world of business, merchants who want to grow their business and increase their profitability should have the ability to go mobile should the need arise.

To accommodate mobile or offsite credit card transactions, portability offers you flexibility and sale closing capability to seize the moment.

Benefits

Here are some of the most important benefits and how you can get the most from your machine:

Portability It would not earn its name if such machines were not portable. Portability is in fact the most obvious benefit you can enjoy. Just as you need to be mobile, you can easily carry the machine and enjoy its lightness and compactness.
Convenience Because the mobile credit card machine can always be with you, you are ever ready to make an important sale.
Perceived Value to Customer Your customers and clients will appreciate the ease of completing the purchase without unnecessary steps.
Cost Saving Being able to avoid manual processing after the fact of a sale or because of a phone sale will qualify you for lower discount rates with most merchant account providers, meaning less of your charge amount is deducted. The savings can be significant..
Portability opens up opportunities to expand your operations to cover off-site transactions resulting in sales growth and increased profitability.

Increase in Privacy and Security You no longer have to document the credit card transaction manually, reducing the risk to security breaches and privacy problems. With manual documentation and processing of the transaction, you write the credit card and all necessary information on a prescribed form, which carries the risk of getting lost, stolen, or misappropriated.
The above risks make customers hesitant to give their credit card information when you require manually processing the transaction off-site. With credit card swiping with a portable device you increase your customers trust and increase the odds of their willingness to do business with you.

Strengthens customer relations You increase customer satisfaction when you make it convenient for them to do business with you. Your customers will enjoy the convenience of carrying and using their credit cards instead of cash.
Especially with large purchases, a portable solution makes it convenient and secure for your customers, as they do not have to worry about bringing hefty sum of money.

They benefit from the convenience and security; your business gets to enjoy an increase in sales volume.

In the conduct of todays businesses, the capability of being mobile or on the go is an advantage that every merchant can benefit from. Using a portable credit card machine opens up new markets that you could not otherwise reach.

Decide to use a mobile solution for your processing needs and you might surprise yourself with the expanded options and flexibility your business can enjoy.