Take Your Business Anywhere With a Credit Card Reader

Many of us have iPhones today, and we think they are the best thing ever. Sure, they allow us to check our email on the fly, but for most of us, this is where the useful advantages stop. Smartphones also distract us with the millions of apps that are available. Instead of making our next buck or coming up with our next great idea, we are being completely unproductive and playing Angry Birds or Flow Free (please do not look up these apps on your phone right now – this would totally defeat the purpose of this article). Still others of us only use our phone for music and Facebook. This also is a nice luxury, but completely unproductive! If you want to take your business to the next level, then I suggest you start using a credit card reader for your iPhone.

Cash is Obsolete

If you’re anything like me, you never carry cash with you. After all, what’s the point? It’s bulky and inconvenient. If I want to make a purchase, probably 97% of the retail stores out there have a credit card reader. In fact, for those that don’t, they are being left behind. It was nearly 10 years ago already that I already felt like cash was on the way out. I never carried it with me anywhere. Instead, I had a debit card and a credit card. Along with my drivers license, those are the only items that make their way into my pocket. Around that time, I took a date out to get some ice cream. This particular shop did not have a credit card reader – they only accepted cash. Well, since I didn’t have cash on me, we went somewhere else. They lost business that day. Don’t make the same mistake with your business!

Accepting Credit is the Safest Way to Get Paid

If you have your own small business, the last thing you want to mess around with is getting paid. Getting paid in cash is great, but as I stated before, hardly anyone carries cash around anymore. So that option is pretty much out.

The next option is to get paid with a check. In my opinion, this is one of the worst ways to get paid. Your customer may not do it on purpose, but there is always a chance that they don’t actually have the money in their account that they owe you. If this happens, not only do you not get paid, but you get a fine from the bank for cashing a bounced check.

The only other way I can think of to get paid is by bartering. Perhaps you need some solar panels installed on your roof and your friend is an expert in this. He wants something from your store, so you just agree to exchange your good for his service. It’s a win win, and no money need to change hands. It’s a great method if it works, but most of the time you just won’t get that lucky.

Related: Dos and Don’ts of Student Credit Cards

By far the most accepted way to pay and get paid today is with credit. The only problem is, what if you’re a small business and you don’t have all that much money to spend on a big credit system? The answer is easy and it can be seen at places like the Apple store and Nordstrom Rack.If you’ve ever shopped at these stores and made a purchase, you don’t need to walk up to a counter and wait in line. Nope. All you have to do is grab an employee, say you want to purchase something and they whip out their iPhone. On it, they have a credit card reader. With a quick scan of the tag of your item and a quick swipe of your credit card, you are merrily on your way. It is a pretty slick operation.

Credit Card Reader for Your Business

If you have a business and are still accepting only cash and checks, I would suggest that you look into using a credit card reader with your iPhone. There are at least six advantages to making the change today:

1. Low or no cost to you for the credit card reader
2. Immediate payment from the credit card company
3. No penalties from the bank if the money isn’t in your customer’s account
4. No time wasted counting money or tallying up paper checks
5. Everything is electronic, which eliminates all data entry
6. You can accept payments anywhere, not just in a store

If you haven’t yet started using a credit card reader, I suggest that you look into it immediately. You’ll be glad you did.