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My wife and I love to find deals through Craigslist, thrift stores and even by dumpster diving. As they say, “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” Typically, my wife and I hunt for children’s items, but every once in awhile, we’ll find a great piece of furniture that needs a little TLC to become as good as new. Sometimes, we even resell the items for a nice profit.
When we put up a sales ad, we always specify that the customer bring cash. However, more and more people are moving towards electronic payments. In fact, Americans used cash for 32% of their retail purchases in 2015. This was a drop from 2014, when 40% of American used cash for these purchases (source: Wall Street Journal).
Recently, someone asked us if we would be willing to accept a credit card. Admittedly, no one had asked this to us before. My wife and I didn’t have the faintest clue how to even accept a purchase this way. While my wife and I are well familiar with PayPal, we had never used a mobile reader device to swipe a credit card on the spot.
Mobile Card Readers (MCRs)
For those who are unaware, a mobile card reader is simply a device that can be attached to a smartphone or tablet that can turn the device into a point of sale. Most card readers can accept all types of debit and credit cards.
When I started to do some research, I learned that in 2017, more than $721.4 billion will be exchanged vehicle mobile payments (source: Visa). This projected figure is a 14x increase since 2010, when payments reached $52.9 billion. In fact, by 2020, the preferred method of payment by both consumers and merchants may be mobile payments.
Businesses are embracing the technology, whether it’s buying a coffee from Starbucks or getting groceries from Whole Foods.
Lucrative for Small Business Owners
My sister is an accomplished artist and a small business owner. I asked her how she handles payments from her customers. She indicated that most still pay by a physical check, but more and more attempt to pay with credit cards. Because of this, she uses a mobile card reader for credit card payments. She currently uses Square, but I recently let her know about SumUp, the leading mobile point-of-sale company in Europe that is now branching out to the US.
Because MCRs are so lucrative for small business owners, she is now exploring the SumUp option. MCRs make sales more efficient, saving business owners from hassle and time.
Square charges $49 for its device, while SumUp regularly charges $69 for its device, but SumUp’s device is currently on promotion for only $39. SumUp offers a better product because its technology is superior. Square requires two devices for the one EMV credit card chip (Europay, MasterCard, and Visa) card reader that accepts all credit cards with chips. As many of you know, the chip technology has drastically cut down on counterfeit fraud rates. EMV chip and PIN technology directly contribute to your security.
SumUp App
One of the best features of SumUp is that you can combine the physical card reader with the SumUp App. This essentially creates a tiny mobile cash register, making transactions easy, efficient, and highly portable.
Future Projection
While there is no global standard regarding mobile payments, there is currently a push to create a single technology that would set the regulations across all countries. Until then, it seems as though SumUp has the best MCR technology on the market.
I have never actually seen one of these but have known they’ve been around for a few years. Over here in China, they almost completely skipped credit cards and use exclusively mobile payment similar to Apple Pay. The chat app over here, WeChat, is used to pay for almost everything: transfers between friends, payments to stores, payments of utilities, etc. Since they were behind on credit card adaptation, they were able to skip straight ahead to mobile. It is super convenient if you have a smartphone… (I don’t have one that works)
Justin @ Atypical Life recently posted…3 Essential Personal Finance Lessons From an Octogenarian
Thanks for sharing Justin!!! That’s really interesting that they bypassed the credit card technology and went straight to mobile. I wonder what Visa/Mastercard think about that…
Ohhhh so that’s what those are called! I’ve seen them around all the time in Seattle. Usually in hip eateries and cafes! Small business owners yup! They’re super cool and everytime I’ve used them they go through. I like them a lot!!!
Lily @ The Frugal Gene recently posted…Top 5 Sorry Ass Financial Mistakes of My Early 20s
Thanks for stopping by Lily!!! Yeah it’s super cool technology and really cheap to set up and install!!!
Oh wow this is really cool. For some reason, it reminds me of Victoria Beckham’s clothing store. They don’t have a cashier and just use iPad to read a customer’s credit card info or for them to key in their payment option.
I recently discovered Venmo, the easiest payment option I have known to date and have been loving it! SumUp sounds really cool as well!
Ms. Frugal Asian Finance recently posted…How The Affects Irritable Bowel Syndrome My Budget
Thanks for sharing Ms. FAF!!! I love where the technology is going with mobile payments. I still remember when you had to swipe a credit card and receive a little slip saying the transition would be mailed to the company. Crazy how far technology has come.
I hardly ever use or carry cash so I appreciate businesses that have this option. I recently had some plumbing work done at my house and the plumber took my credit card and swiped it on his phone using this technology. I’m sure the credit card companies love it as they should see more business as the process get more widely adopted. Tom
Tom @ Dividends Diversify recently posted…Get Your Motor Runnin’
I’m like you Tom!!! I hardly ever carry cash and it’s super convenient for the consumers clearly 🙂 With less and less people carrying cash this will definitely be a must have in the future 🙂
That is cool technology. The fees are not too bad if you make enough sales. It seems like an ideal option for your sister who is an artist. I am sure it would lead to more sales.
Dave recently posted…Writing a Financial Plan
Thanks for stopping by Dave!!! I definitely agree that it’s a great option for my sister. If my wife and I continue to sell things down the road it may make sense for us as well 🙂
I’ve seen more food trucks in downtown SF with these MCRs. It definitely looks much easier for small businesses to process transactions with these devices. It’s also great for someone like me that uses mainly credit cards for my purchases. I think you will gradually see more small businesses adapt to MCRs.
Kris recently posted…If You Are Not Investing in the Stock Market, Do It Now Not Later
I definitely agree Kris!!! It seems like this is the way technology is moving and a great service for small businesses 🙂
Very cool. I don’t have a need for one (until Lanny and I start selling our Dividend Diplomats swag haha) but I love going around to flea markets, farmers markets, etc. and seeing all of the vendors pull out their iPads and Squares to accept card payment. It is nice to know that there are other options out there.
Bert
Dividend Diplomats recently posted…Bert’s Q3 2017 Goals Review
Thanks for stopping by Bert!!! I definitely agree that the technology is super cool. I can’t wait to see how technology continues to evolve away from paper money 🙂