Wireless Credit Card Terminal

If you accept credit cards from your customers you will need to use a credit card terminal to process their payments. In many situations, a wireless credit card terminal has real advantages over a fixed terminal.

For instance in the restaurant business having a wireless credit card terminal means you can take credit card payments at the table, so the credit card is never out of your customer's sight.

For some businesses, such as taxi drivers, wireless terminals are absolutely vital - they simply couldn't do their jobs without them. They're also useful for temporary, seasonal businesses such as beach restaurants.

When you are evaluating a wireless terminal you need to consider the following factors: battery life, weight, range, and robustness.

If the batteries run out too quickly you may end up being unable to process payments when the terminal hasn't been charged overnight.

Weight is probably not an issue in restaurants or taxis. However in a large car dealership, say, where the terminal might have to be taken several hundred feet through the car lot, and carried around all day, it could be a problem. Remember that wireless terminals have the printer included so they will always weigh more than fixed terminals, which connect to a separate printing device.

Range, again, won't be a problem for most restaurants and small retail outlets. But it could be an issue for taxi drivers and other mobile businesses.

Finally, robustness is a real issue for the purchaser of any wireless credit card terminal. I don't know anyone who has a wireless credit card terminal in their business who hasn't dropped it - or seen it dropped by another member of staff - more than once. Your business might be quite sedate, but even so your wireless terminal will need to be capable of taking a bashing once in a while.

The other disadvantage of a mobile terminal besides the fact that people can drop it is of course that it's quite easy to lose. Sometimes they do get stolen. More often, staff members simply mislay them. If you do get a wireless terminal then you'll need to put in place foolproof procedures for where it is to be kept when not being used, and make sure that staff do in fact put it there.