Diving into the world of mobility unlocks more than cloud-based POS apps and sleek devices; it offers small businesses new ways to engage with their customers—such as contactless options, improved customer service experiences, and payment types. And with the implementation of an mPOS terminal, you’ll have flexible ways to utilize new forms of payment processing that will take your business to a new level of performance.
What Does Payment Processing in an mPOS Environment Look Like?
Before we dive into the finer details of mPOS payment processing, let’s take a look at a scenario that illustrates its advantages:
While searching for a mobile POS solution, a florist quickly discovered that they could use various forms of digital payments to promote their business. Many digital wallet providers and contactless credit card vendors allowed them to advertise and promote items that, if purchased using these payment options, would give customers a steep discount and free delivery.
However, the florist’s current payment processor was unwilling to allow them to utilize the digital wallet services, and was going to impose a surcharge if they processed any customer payments on mobile POS software. As a result, the florist did some research and quickly discovered a mobile POS solution provider that gave them a choice in payment processors, allowing them to select one that offered favorable rates for processing mobile payments and encouraged them to take advantage of digital wallet promotional offers.
As the above example shows, when choosing a mobile POS platform, you will need to reexamine which payment processing vendors your POS provider supports and what their terms are. By gaining the ability to select which payments you want to offer and determine terms most favorable to your business, you gain an edge in business by reducing payment processing costs and attracting a wider range of customers. Additionally, it is worth noting that all the payment options mentioned here will integrate perfectly into almost any industry.
Mobile Payment Devices Introduce New Payment Acceptance Avenues
Your choice of mPOS terminal is the building block of your payment processing solution. The device you select will have a direct impact on which forms of payment are available to you, which in turn sets the boundaries for the payment processing terms that will best apply. It’s no surprise that the best devices for mobile payment processing are mobile devices, but which of those are best? It all depends on your needs and sales volumes.
There are only three viable options for mobile payment processing, each coming with its own advantages and disadvantages:
- Handheld card readers. These are very portable and easy to support. Unfortunately, they do not possess the ability to control the rest of your business processes, making them a one-trick pony in terms of true POS value.
- Smartphones. Using smartphone devices is a great choice for some businesses, but not all. Their small size and portability make them perfect fits for mobile businesses, such as food trucks or craft show vendors. And when iOS devices are used, security and usability are maximized. However, their small screens make them limited in larger business settings.
- Tablets. Like smartphones, they introduce portability and, in an iOS environment, provide top-notch payment security. Tablets as payment devices are better suited for stationary or high volume businesses, as they are clearer to read and apps are easier to navigate. While they use the same card reader technology as smartphones, they can be mounted or unmounted, giving them more versatility as business management devices as well as mPOS terminals.
A case could also be made for laptops, but think about this: just how mobile are laptops? They cannot be easily mounted or dismounted, nor can they be disconnected from power for long. Also, try conducting an inventory search or processing a payment on a laptop while standing next to a customer in an aisle. This still makes iPad tablets the hands-down winner when it comes to selecting a mobile payment device for small business use.
Integrated mPOS Technology Makes Payment Processing Work for You
The addition of mobile POS technology into your business environment will contribute more than favorable payment processing terms or a broader range of payment types. You will gain improved data accuracy thanks to the digital nature of mobile payments. You can then use the advanced reporting and data analytics within your mPOS solution to build predictive inventory monitoring, enhance customer service quality controls, and build a better customer experience.
Broadening the spectrum of accepted payment types is another way the customer experience will improve. Being able to offer the trendy, new mobile payment app as a payment option will turn heads. And, the flexible terms of an mPOS-supported payment processing plan will yield better cost controls, giving you more budget predictability and accurate financial forecasts so you can plan your business’ next move with confidence.
What Should Your mPOS Terminal Look Like?
Determining the role of your mPOS solution starts with taking a closer look at the payment types you would like to accept and how to best process them. You need an mPOS terminal that is versatile, secure, and can easily run your mPOS business apps. Putting this all together in one, seamlessly functioning mPOS solution is a project undertaking that an experienced mPOS provider like talech can help you complete with an eye on achieving the maximum benefits.
A key component of a total mPOS solution is the ability to process payments from almost any payment type you would like to accept. When you partner with talech for your mPOS terminal needs, we work to build not just a high performing technical solution, but also help you gain favorable and flexible payment processing terms.
