Card processing apps for iPhone becoming more common

Card processing apps for iPhone becoming more common

Small businesses often find themselves juggling their finances just to stay competitive. One of these juggling acts involves being able to accept credit card payments. The costs associated with accepting credit card payments often are too high for some small businesses. However, a new technology was created that allows small businesses to accept credit payments on a mobile device. These software applications (apps) transform your iPhone or iPod Touch into a credit card processing terminal.

Credit Card Terminal for iPhone and iPod Touch
In 2008, Innerfence came out with its credit card processing app for the iPhone/iPod Touch called Credit Card Terminal. This iPhone/iPod Touch app costs $49.99 and can be purchased at an Apple store or on iTunes. While this may seem like a good deal at first glance, there are other costs and restrictions such as:

• You are required to open a gateway account with Authorize.net.
• There is a set-up fee of $49 if you already have a compatible merchant account. If you open a merchant with Innerfence the set-up fee is waived.
• There is a combined monthly fee for your Innerfence merchant account and gateway account of $25. If you have your own merchant account this fee is only $15 a month.
• A $0.24 fee for each credit card transaction. This drops to $0.10 if you already have a merchant account.

GoPayment credit card processing app for iPhone
Intuit now has a credit card processing app called GoPayment that is available for the iPhone/iPod Touch and select cell phones. You must have a merchant account with Intuit in order to download the free app and use the service. The following fees and cost apply:

• A $59.95 one time set-up fee.
• A $19.95 monthly service charge.
• A pre-authorization fee of $0.27.
• A monthly minimum fee of no more than $20, which is based upon your monthly processing volume.

TransFS Card Terminal
Transparent Financial Services is one of the latest companies to offer a free credit card processing app for the iPhone and iPod Touch called the TransFS Card Terminal. TransFS is not a gateway or merchant account provider. They are a credit card processing aggregator that shops around to find the best prices for merchant accounts to serve your small business. If you already have a gateway and merchant account provider, then all you need to do is download the app. If you are in the market for a gateway and merchant account provider, then TransFS will shop around for you to get you the lowest pricing.

What sets TransFS apart with its Card Terminal app is that there are no requirements you need to meet. The app is free, there is no set-up fee and you can use your own merchant account or let TransFS find the cheapest merchant accounts for you to pick from. TransFS has a strict transparency policy for all merchant account companies to provide all accurate costs associated with their merchant account services. With this feature, there are no surprise fees that creep up after you open a merchant account with a company TransFS recommended for you.

Going mobile with credit card processing
Mobile credit card processing is cheaper than the traditional card terminals or computer terminal credit card processing hardware. However, you can still cut costs even further by choosing the most affordable credit card processing app available. Going with a credit card processing aggregator like TransFS that has no up-front costs and makes all merchant account companies disclose every cost and fee associated with their services may be your best bet.

Published: December 7,2023