In past articles, I've established the foundation of knowledge that allows merchants to understand that it is imperative they accept credit cards in order to keep their business competitive. In order to begin accepting credit cards, you must choose a merchant services provider to establish and maintain your processing account. Once you've chosen a merchant services provider, you'll need to provide them with your choice of a Point of Sale (POS) terminal. They will probably offer you suggestions on which terminal would be best suited to your business, but it doesn't hurt to be well-informed before making your choice. In today's world, it seems like everything is being switched over to wireless: wireless lights, wireless chargers, wireless phones, wireless gaming stations and, for the purposes of this article, wireless POS credit card processing terminals. The question is: does your business need wireless processing capabilities? There are some things to consider before deciding on a wireless processing solution.

First of all, as you may have guessed, wireless terminals cost more than their wired counterparts. On average, using a wireless terminal will cost your business an extra $20 per month. This cost covers your terminal connecting to a cellular payment processing service provider. Think of it like your cell phone bill; it is the cost you pay to connect to their towers. Also pertaining to cost, you might want to consider that most merchant service providers will price their wireless terminal lease agreement at a higher rate than non-wireless terminals. They are more complex machines that require more overall technical support and setup time than regular terminals. For example, you might be able to use a wired terminal, leased at $29.99/month, but its wireless cousin would cost you $39.99/month plus $20/month for a wireless plan. You must weigh the extra cost of wireless convenience against whether it will provide you a return on your investment.

When choosing a wireless terminal, consider what network your processing will be going through. Your merchant services provider can answer this question for you. Think about all the times you've asked, "Can you hear me now?" Well, this translates similarly when discussing wireless terminal processing. If your wireless service provider doesn't have good coverage at your business, your transaction process could become unnecessarily complicated. It might end up that your terminal choice comes down to what providers work with each terminal and then picking one based on good coverage. Again, this is something to discuss with your MSP when choosing a wireless terminal.

Certain businesses have a track record of benefiting from wireless POS terminal convenience, including restaurants, large retail stores and seasonal shops. A huge benefit can be seen in the restaurant industry because wireless terminals allow table pay capabilities. This means that a server can carry a wireless terminal with them and accept customer payments instantly, allowing the payment card to never leave the customer's site and freeing up congestion near otherwise crowded countertop terminals. For restaurants, this increase in processing speed could net huge returns. As an example, think about a restaurant with 20 tables and an average receipt of $45. By increasing table turnover by one party per table, on a busy night, this restaurant could earn an extra $900. As you can see, shaving a few extra minutes off payment processing time really adds up!

Any store where connecting to a wired terminal is either not possible or not practical would of course need to look at the wireless option. Most importantly, any contractor or consultant that doesn't work at a fixed location would need to look into using a wireless POS. For example, I recently had a plumber come by my house to fix a leaky toilet. He did a great job and was a friendly guy, but it was a huge inconvenience to me when it came time to pay. This particular contractor did not accept credit cards and I didn't have cash on me. I ended up having to run to the ATM in town to pull out $150 in cash, with this plumber waiting at my house, in order to pay him. Based on this inconvenience, would I call this plumber again? Potentially. I experienced no "real" problems with his work, but paying him was such a pain that I might call some other contractors first. Case in point: had he had a wireless terminal and processing capabilities, I would have been a much more satisfied customer.

Aside from these special circumstances, your business can probably get away with (and may be better off with) a wired POS solution. Wired solutions have no reception issues, cost less per month and offer you a wider variety of terminal options. But, should your business fall into one of the aforementioned categories, you should weigh the pros and cons of a wireless terminal and hopefully see an increase in your bottom line.