For nearly 25 years, imprinters have been primary tools for merchants who accept credit cards. Over the past decade, however, the advances in Internet technology and online security have boosted the efficiency and popularity of wireless terminals for credit card transactions. Today merchants looking for discount credit card machines are seriously weighing the pros and cons for both methods.
Using a wireless terminal instead of an imprinter allows a merchant to take advantage of “card present” processing rates. With an imprinter, the processing rate is higher because the merchant takes an imprint of the card and then keys the transaction in later. With a wireless terminal, a merchant can save one-half to three-quarters of a percent on processing rates. That’s because swiping the card results in immediate approval or decline of the card at the point of sale. Other advantages of discount credit card machines for merchants include faster access to money, along with lower risks of sales on invalid credit cards, and lower risk of data breaches such as employees stealing credit card numbers.
The cost of doing business using wireless terminals is higher than that of an imprinter. Discount credit card machines require the merchant to have a third-party wireless service provider at a typical cost of $15 to $35 per month. In addition, there’s typically a cost per transaction of 5 to 15 cents. The initial investment in wireless terminals also is higher than that of imprinters. In the end, the deciding factor is sales volume. High-volume merchants save enough on lower processing rates and lower loss risks to pay for their wireless terminals. Low-volume merchants probably would do better with an imprinter.