Mobile Card Payment Terminals..

SPECIAL LOCATION · Apr 7, 2018

Just after a quick pool of the forums combined wisdom.....

At the moment still taking payments by BACS/CASH/CHEQUE..

(Probably in that order of frequency as well, majority of customers do a Bank Transfer, others have the Cash, handful still do Cheques.)

Occasionally get asked if I can do Card Payments, so I have been considering the options for the devices you just purchase with no monthly fees..

Just percentage charges on the transactions..

e.g.

https://www.mobiletransaction.org/square-vs-izettle-vs-sumup/

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/smallbusiness/article-5035977/The-4-mobile-card-readers-SMEs.html

And other similar such reviews...

So do many of you lot use any of these or similar items.. and would you recommend them?

Or have you had any issues, problems with reliability, loss of signal, problems interacting with phone apps where applicable, loss or delayed payment transactions etc..

There are a few negative reviews here and there about transactions taking an unexpectedly long time to get into you bank account.

Any help or advice much appreciated.

:Salute Guinness

Tony S · Apr 7, 2018

I have worked with card payment systems for a few years so my personal advice would be that going for the likes of iZettle etc (all mobile payments done through a phone) is not a good idea. While they may not charge you a monthly fee you have zero back up in case anything goes wrong with either taking a payment or making one yourself.

Having an online payment system is a good idea if you regularly take the likes of paypal or ebay payments, but this is not a great choice if you are going to be doing face to face payments more often.

For face to face payments your best bet is to go with a known company that does card and contactless payments. This not only gives you the extra insurance to protect you against fraud but also a customer service number that can help you with any day to day issues you may have. Everything from a dodgy connection that makes you payments slow, to a broken machine, to just having a random question.

My go to company - and I am not biased as I have worked for them all - would be worldpay. From their low charges and their customer service they would be my personal recommendation.

If I can help anymore please contact me through Tony

Credit for the above information goes to @Pink Minx

SPECIAL LOCATION · Apr 8, 2018

Well from the general lack of much other info coming forward, I guess the majority don't use any mobile card reader payment devices? :C

But Big thanks to @Pink Minx for some very useful insight. :Salute

I did stumble across this Sum-Up device at Screwfix whilst searching card readers.....

https://www.screwfix.com/p/sum-up-card-reader/1972x?_requestid=324952

And it was the only review which complains about problems of slow payments that prompted the question:...

No reflection on Screwfix the product is reasonably priced.
The problem arises when you start using it. If your transaction is below £30 no problem start going above that and it’s a nightmare. I was paid by a customer £2500 for a job I did via credit card. After a few days I received an email from SumUp requesting more information for security checks to be done which I provided, to cut a long story short after numerous phone calls I was told they can keep my money for 13 months and there is nothing I can do about it. I then got legal advice and did some digging on the net about the company. Turn out I was not alone, they have and are doing this to thousands of people. They are being investigated by the ombudsman. I eventually got my money by getting the credit card company to recall the money and the customer paid by bank transfer. I then received an email from them telling me I could no longer use their machine, like I ever would again. Please do your research and avoid at all costs. "

So I am guessing this slow transfer of funds is a bit of a legal loophole all these phone based devices can use?

i.e. they take your customers money but then hold onto it as long as they can before giving it to you.

So you would lose any potential advantaged of speed compared to clearing a bog-standard cheque.

opcorn

Andy™ · Apr 8, 2018

dont use them. either transfer, cash or cheque

binky · Apr 8, 2018

I've looked several times, but charges and % of total deducted can add uo to quite a lot of money. I prefer BACS transfer. If you use an accounts package like Quickbooks you can invoice from your phone whilst still with the customer.

sprocketflup · Apr 8, 2018

I have an iZettle for the band merchandise, cost us the princely sum of £29, uses my phone as a connection and has worked flawlessly so far. Transaction fees of 1.75% for the payment, which you could easily 'lose' in a bill ( think that may be illegal tho) we don't bother tbh just see it as a legitimate expense

All payments so far have gone into the bank in less than 2 working days