Recently, I acquired an EMV Chip & Swipe Card Reader for mobile business payment processing. Allow me to back up for just a moment, and explain, I have had a PayPal business account since 2005 or so, which enabled easy sign up with PayPal Here, the mobile payment processing service.

I use PayPal for most business payment processing tasks, however there are several other great options, including (list focused on mobile payment processing services):

Most major banks also offer merchant services for business banking customers, however I do not have enough in the way of monthly sales revenue to justify this more costly option. At this time, PayPal is a more cost effective solution for my business payment processing needs.

To be able to to accept credit cards at the Point of Sale (POS), you will need new equipment. I have compiled a list, I believe to be a good starting point for research into this area.

Partial List of Available POS Payment Processing Equipment

Payment Processing Equipment	ios	android	all-in-one solution	ApplePay	GooglePay	PayPal
FD150 EMV Secure Credit Card Terminal with WiFi
Clover Go Contactless Reader
PayPal Chip and Swipe Reader Black
PayPal Chip and Tap Reader Black
PayPal Chip Card Reader
Square Terminal
Bluetooth Thermal Receipt LOSRECAL Portable Printer
Star Micronics SM-T300i Ultra-Rugged Portable Bluetooth Receipt Printer

Interesting articles about card readers and related card processing services:

Before purchasing credit card processing equipment, research the payment processing service, i.e., PayPal, Clover, etc., you are planning to use to insure your payment processing requirements qualify for the type of service being offered. For example, PayPal requires applicants to either have a PayPal business or premium account to activate the PayPal Here mobile payment processing service.

Also, before signing up with a new payment processing service, understand the fee structures. While researching for this post, I found one of the biggest complaints from merchants with established Point of Sale (POS) payment processing solutions, was the hidden costs.

Printing customer receipts at the point of sale (mobile) is also something that should be researched thoroughly before purchasing equipment. The PayPal Here service offers either a text or email receipt, in the way of other options.

In the table above, I list a thermal printer for Android users of PayPal Here, however my own experience has been "enlightening" to say the least. No, I did not purchase the printer I listed. I will discuss this further in a later post.

I am a small business owner and have to justify my business expenditures. To date, my total cost to be able to accept most forms of payment while on the go, is under $100 USD. Research into the purchase of POS services and equipment is important.

Now, I am thinking about a yard sale. Even looked into tax related issues. What else? Photography, WiredPages Business Directory listings, on-site software consulting fees...

For legal reasons, I provide demonstration of my software tools (core business), on my sites, e.g. WiredPages, however I have to be more selective where direct client support is involved. Liability is to easy to assign in the online services game.

At this time, I rely more on the advertising associated with my sites. I need a more stable legal solution.

That said, I am coming up with other ways to use my new mobile payment processing capabilities. Can your business justify the cost? Here is another solution- PayPal.me.