Business owners have to be careful when choosing their credit card processing company. You need reliable, affordable service that offers excellent customer service, otherwise, you can lose customers of your own. Many small to mid-size businesses are choosing mobile credit card services like Square to handle their transaction processing. This choice offers a number of advantages but also comes with some drawbacks.
Ease of Use
Startup and home businesses can easily begin using Square. You simply plug it into an iPhone or Android device, and you’re ready to roll. The mag stripe reader is free and requires only a 3.5 mm jack. A wireless chip reader will cost you around $50. Some newer phones may require inexpensive adapters, but the initial cost is certainly low. You do not have to invest in expensive equipment, and the system takes little time to learn. You can use the Square in a traditional shop or while selling items at flea markets and farmers markets. It certainly helps smaller businesses compete with larger, more well-established companies.
Square Fees
Square charges a 2.75 flat fee per swipe or 3.5% plus 15 cent surcharge for transactions that are manually keyed-in, which on average is 3%. For small businesses, these fees can be crippling and lead to them restricting credit card use to purchases over a certain amount. Velocity Merchant Services can save their customers on average 30 – 50% on credit card transactions. Some customers now carry almost no cash and rely on their debit/credit cards to pay for their morning mochas and glazed donuts. Another highlight for VMS is they charge 0% on debit transactions. Square charges the3% on their debit transactions.
Square Disadvantages
While almost anyone can get Square for their business, the company protects itself by issuing holds on large or unusual purchases. The company has not done a good job in communicating this policy, which has led to unhappy merchants and customers. Square is also quick to dump clients from their service, also without much notice. Other credit processing companies do intensive credit checks before accepting you as a client, which means they are more liberal about keeping you on and unlikely to place holds on transactions.
While Square does offer customer support, they do not have live help, which means that aid often comes in the form of email and social media. This means your issue may not be solved for some time. More traditional processing services offer online chat and telephone services that mean you can easily speak to a real person and, hopefully, resolve issues as they occur.
Square is an excellent choice for some companies, particularly startups and small businesses. You can choose it and almost immediately zoom into action. While Square offers flexibility, it also offers less effective customer service and may not stick with you if any difficulty arises.
If you are interested in this topic, here is another blog that is available to you on the subject insight.getvms.com/clover-pos-vs-square-stand-0. Read here for information on a great read about the best equipment to go with your traditional merchant services company.