Accepting credit cards via smart phone???

Tom Dunlap

Tom Dunlap

Here from the beginning
Administrator
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Retired in Minneapolis
We use Square. It works well and it's cheap........relatively speaking. Not much to say besides that. We just dropped our old merchant services because they kept adding monthly fees. They were a hassle to work with. So far Square has been easy with no issues what so ever. I would recommend it to anyone with a small business and a smart phone.
 
We use square but have had issues because they set limits on how much you can intake. This can be adjusted however but their customer service is all email based. which is annoying. However we still use them as a last means.
 
Do you mean limits per transaction, per day, per month? We have not had that problem but I bet our biggest transaction has been less than $1000. Luckily our customers still pay with check for the most part.
 
This is something I've wanted to do for the longest time. Whats holding me back, every time someone asks and I say no. They say "oh well, I just wanted to use it for the freq. flyer miles or their rewards points. They pay me with a check anyway. I thought about charging a conveinance fee, same as the gas stations. There is a cash/check price, then there is a credit card price.
 
If you read the 'review' link that I posted you'll find a phone number for customer service.

Cameron...you make a good point. I never lost a sale because I didn't fund a client's vacations via VISA.
 
How fast do you get paid when you use The Square?

I use Google Checkout right now. I think a "selling point" with Google Checkout is, I don't have to see their personal info. There is no way I could be accused of misuse of their credit card info.

Also, if the customer isn't home, I can bill them immediately to their e-mail address. So, if they are at work, they can take care of the bill there. And this works really well, if the customer is an out of state landlord.

I don't like waiting 2-3 business days to be paid with Google Checkout. That's my only complaint.
 
Square payments show up in my bank account in 2-3 days. A while ago they took the limits off my account so I could charge a million bucks per day if I wanted.

No setup cost, no hardware to buy, no monthly costs, and clients think its cool. I've had clients use me specifically because I DO take card. In fact, I've had tree guys in the area refer clients to me that would only hire someone that would take credit card.

If you're thinking about a system, start with square since there's no obligations. If you don't like it, you can always buy in to another system.

Lemme know if you have questions about it.

love
nick
 
I also use square, and am completely satisfied with it. As a matter of fact I have gotten more work and some jobs specifically because I'm the only company that accepts credit card payment.
One particular incident this summer was the University wanted to buy a bunch of my mulch. They could have taken my invoice, and made a PO#, then ran it through the system, then I would have gotten a check about 2 months later. But this way, right after I dumped the mulch, the guy gave me his University CC, I swiped it on my iPad2, he singed using his finger, then I emailed him the receipt. All while standing right there next to the truck. The money was in my back account within 2 days. All I missed out on was the 2.75% square charges. For the most part that is worth the convenience.

Since the hardware and signup is free and if you already have a smart phone, there is really no obligation in having it. If I read the rules right, you can go up to 2 years with no activity before they close the account. So even if its for that one opportunity a year where the first question out of a customers mouth is "do you accept credit card", your set!

Oh, and if you really worried about the customers that want to use the card just for the milage perks or whatever. Have a policy, up front, that you charge a convince fee of 2.75% if credit card is going to be used. I do that and have not lost a job because of it yet.
 
Not sure I understand the airmiles thing. Does it matter if there card has miles on it or not? Do you get charged extra cause the card has a points system on it?
 
You can get charged different percents depending on what rewards the credit card issuer gives their customers. However, I think the point was that people will charge things on their cards just to get rewards on their cc. I know I will always charge something given the choice because of the rewards that we get.
 
I also use square. My clients thought it was pretty sweet that I used my phone. We have to get the most of our handheld computers that make phone calls! It usually takes about two days, but I ran the credit card last night around five PM mountain time and checked my account this morning the deposit was already made. I hope this trend continues.
 
I really think it sets you apart from your competition too. Most of our competitors want payment in cash or check on the spot. With square you can still get paid right away(sort of) but you look way more professional.

We don't ask for a convenience fee or anything like that. The small % that we have to pay is just the cost of doing business. If all of our customers paid with a cc then we might consider charging extra for using a cc.
 
isn't it against CC policies to charge a fee to use them? A local liquor store chain skirts that by offering a "discount for cash." not really sure why that's different, but apparently it meets the strictest interpretation of the rules.
 
[ QUOTE ]
isn't it against CC policies to charge a fee to use them? A local liquor store chain skirts that by offering a "discount for cash." not really sure why that's different, but apparently it meets the strictest interpretation of the rules.

[/ QUOTE ]

The language on our merchant account clearly states this. But, I don't know how well they enforce it..
 
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