|
Mobile merchant
account
A mobile merchant account aids
merchants who conduct a lot of their business on the road.
Some types of businesses that may benefit from a mobile merchant
account may be:
- Trade service-type
businesses (plumbers, electricians, AC/heat, lawn mowing,
etc.)
- Christmas tree and fireworks
stands
- Door-to-door sales
- Tradeshow/Expo exhibitors
- Craft shows
Depending on your needs and
available capital, there are a few different ways to accept
credit cards utilizing your mobile merchant account. One
type is using an expensive, wireless swipe terminal. These
units will cost you less to process transactions since cards are
actually swiped through the machine. However, you can
expect to pay a high monthly lease, or over $1000 if you
purchase a mobile terminal outright. If you have access to
the Internet via a notebook computer, you can utilize a secure
web-based virtual terminal. All you'd need to do is login
securely using your username and PIN and you can manually
process orders right on the spot, or back at the hotel.
This along with a touch tone or cell phone merchant account are probably the least expensive
options. Usually only
costing you around $100 to purchase. The processing fees
are slightly higher (around 2.25% discount rate and $0.30
transaction fee) since credit cards are not actually swiped.
Another option may be to use a PDA (i.e. Compaq iPaq, Palm,
etc.) with a mini swipe device attached. These units don't
cost as much as mobile swipe terminals, usually between $300 to
$500 each.
The last option is
cell phone
credit card processing, of all the options listed, it is the
cheapest. One company, Thompson Merchant
Services, offers a service for $39 one-time setup (Free for
Non-Profits), 2.19%
plus $0.75 per transaction, and $9.99/month.
You can use your cell phone, no additional equipment is required
and no long distance calls to make. Not only can you use a
cell phone, but any phone will work just fine.
For more information on a
mobile merchant account visit our mobile
commerce section.
- Back to the
merchant account knowledge base -
|
|
