Getting Paid on the Go

There’s a new kid on the block: Punchey. It joins Square, PayPal and Breadcrumb in offering you the ability to accept credit card payments on your smartphone or tablet. Take a look at the breakdown below:

Breadcrumb by Groupon

Breadcrumb invites you to throw your cash register away. They offer a free app for the iPad and free 24/7 support. They charge you 1.8 percent plus 15 cents per swipe. There are no long-term contracts and they offer next day deposits.

The program allows you to create multiple tax rates, customer items, employee roles with PIN access, printer groups, and the ability to apply discounts. You can send receipts through email or print them.

In addition to an iPad, which they do sell, you will need the $15 reader. They say for a limited time (no idea how long that is) you don’t have to pay a processing fee for the initial $5,000 of credit card transactions. They also promise to beat any competitor’s rate. Since it is by Groupon, it lets you redeem a Groupon with a simple tap.

PayPal Here by Ebay

PayPal is also in the mobile credit card processing business and offers live customer support. For 2.7 percent per transaction, you gain access to your funds on the same day. Their app and reader come free and are available for iPhone, Android and Blackberry. If you don’t want to wait for your free reader to come in the mail, you can pick one up at Staples or AT&T for $15 and get a $15 rebate.

It also offers the ability to take PayPal payments and checks, invoice from the app and track cash payments. You can also get a debit card with 1 percent cash back.

Punchey

Punchey claims to make “small businesses smarter and more profitable by offering lower rates and turning payment data into actionable marketing insights.”

It works on Android, iPhone and iPad. The program allows you to automatically build customer lists and use that information for email campaigns. You can invoice your customers and see when your last visit was, how many times you’ve been there and how much they’ve spent with you.

Their pricing is a bit trickier with a charge of .75 percent plus Interchange, which they define as a rate that banks set on each transaction that range from 1 to 3 percent. High-volume merchants may qualify for special pricing. They send you the card reader when you sign up.

Square

You get a free reader when you sign up, which easily fits in your pocket. The free app is linked to your bank account, with no set-up fees or long-term contracts. Customers sign their name on the screen and can be emailed a receipt.

Square charges 2.75 percent per swipe with no additional fees, and offers next day deposits, or you can choose to pay a flat $275 per month and no percentage per swipe. It works with Android, iPhone and iPad. It accepts Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Discover payments.

The app allows you to track sales data in real time and create custom reports including transaction volume made with the Square reader and more. You can also create a library of items you sell.

Story by Jennifer Taylor

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