Credit Card Machines 101.com: Buying guide to credit card terminal & check reader equipment

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Top Buying Tips for Credit Card Machines

1. Buy, don't lease your credit card terminal. Credit card machines range from $100 to $1,000 so aren't terribly expensive to buy. Contrast that with a 3-yr or 4-yr lease that some merchant account providers may setup if they bundle your merchant account and terminal together. In this case, leasing a terminal can cost you much more.

2. Consider a terminal that can handle debits. Paying by debit instead of credit may be an attractive option for your customers. You need a credit card terminal that has a PIN keypad built-in, or consider a separate PIN pad. The latter alternative lets you keep your credit card terminal out of reach, and let's you put just the PIN pad on the counter for them to enter their bank PIN number.

3. Get a unit with battery backup. Should your retail store lose electrical power, you still want to be able to process customer transactions. Spend a few dollars more for a credit card terminal with battery backup - its cheap insurance.

4. Get a terminal that can handle smart cards. Smart cards include credit, debit and other information in a card with a microchip which holds the information, instead of in a magnetic stripe. They are the future and Europay-MasterCard-VISA (EMV) has rolled out a global standard and initiative.

5. Get a terminal with a fast modem. Don't skimp here. Nothing is more tedious than waiting for a slow modem to send data and wait for the transaction to be authorized. Get a credit card machine with a 9600-baud modem. Your customers will thank you.

6. Get a terminal with flash memory. Look for a credit card terminal that uses flash memory to store the operating software. This allows software updates to be downloaded and installed directly, which will increase the useful lifetime of the machine.

7. Get a manual credit card imprinter as a backup. Remember these mechanical gizmos? Should your retail location ever lose power or phone service, imprinters can save the day. They are also great for mobile businesses or whenever you will be in the field processing customer transactions.

Sellers of credit card machines