Time To Rethink Your Mobile Payments Processor? Here’s 6 Options

Intuit GoPayment

GoPayment is a popular choice among users of Intuit’s host of products and software like Quickbooks. Its app is not aesthetically pleasing, but all of the activity can easily be plugged into Quickbooks—a bonus when you’re trying to make a sale quickly or on the go.

Fees: There are two plans available, each with varying transaction fees. The regular plan with no monthly fee will cost you 2.4 percent plus 25 cents per transaction. (Not recommended for businesses with many small transactions.) For $20 per month, the rate is 1.75 percent plus 25 cents per transaction, but you’ll have to sell more than $3,000 per month for it to be worthwhile. Keying in transactions will cost you around 3.4 percent plus 25 cents or 3.15 percent and 25 cents.

Amazon Local Register

Debuted in August 2014, Amazon Local Register offers an Android, iOS and Fire OS app with built-in analytics, purchasing information, and more. And being, well, Amazon, it offers business owners a wide array of accessories and hardware updates for its POS solutions.

Fees: Businesses that signed up before October 31 of this year locked in a rate of 1.75 percent until 2016. If you missed it, you can still pay 2.5 percent. Keyed-in transactions will cost 2.75 percent with no additional per-transaction fee.

Flint

A new mobile payments startup on the market, Flint’s focus is on service industry businesses: photographers, lawyers, etc. Flint provides no POS device, no clip-on card reader; instead, you take photos of cards with your phone. Flint offers invoicing through PayPal Here and integrates easily with Quickbooks.

Fees: Flint charges only 1.95 percent for debit card transactions, but 2.95 percent for everything else. The downside is, the app only supports Visa and MasterCard. While this is 90% of the market, it may be a make-or-break situation for you. If you use Flint, you’ll need another reader for customers paying with cards like AmEx.

Merchant Services Provider (Various)

Many businesses rely on merchant service providers (MSPs) to handle payment needs. MSP is an “umbrella term that covers banks, third-party processors or any other entity that provides businesses and individuals with the products and services necessary to accept credit cards, debit cards and other forms of electronic payment.” The best ones give retailers the capability to accept all debit, credit cards, and checks safely. They provide it all: sleek POS terminals, shopping cart services, recurring billing, gift and loyalty card programs, and advanced reporting and inventory functions.

Fees: All merchant service providers’ fees are different, and transaction costs are based on the type of transaction and the type of payment used. Transaction rates for debit and credit cards can run the gamut, from .05 percent plus 22 cents to more than 1.60 percent plus 15 cents. Merchant service providers often save businesses money each month because they do not charge a flat right like other popular processes. Pass-through interchange is a popular pricing module used. It simply passes through card brand costs with a small markup added, and is a transparent way of pricing increasingly popular among business owners of all sizes.

This article has been edited and condensed.

Andrea Fisher is a NC-based writer for Targeted Merchant Solutions, offering a wide range of merchant solutions, low processing rates, the latest technology on the market, and quality customer service. Connect with @andreafisher007 on Twitter.