Mobile Credit Card Processing: The Top 4 Options Compared

Being able to process credit card payments away from your office or store is an important part of being competitive for small business. Once a complicated and expensive procedure, it’s now easy and affordable to turn your smartphone into a portable cash register.

Our Top Choice for Mobile Payment Processing for Small Business Owners

PayPal Here Square Intuit GoPayment PayAnywhere

Ease of Use Easiest Very Easy Moderate Fairly Easy

Monthly Fee None None

2 Plans: Plan 1: no monthly rate; Plan 2: $12.95 monthly

rate.None

Swipe Rate

2.7% for US cards

Keyed rate/scan 3.5% + $0.15

Non US cards is 3.7%

Swipe rate 2.75%

Keyed rate 3.75% + $0.15

Plan 1: Pay as you go $0/month

Swipe rate 2.75%

Keyed rate 3.75% Plan 2: $12.95/

month plan (up to 50 users per

account) Swipe rate 1.75% Keyed rate 2.75%

Swipe rates 2.69%

Keyed rates 3.49% + $0.19

PayPal Here Square Intuit GoPayment PayAnywhere

Free App and Card Reader?

Yes Yes Yes Yes

Number of Users

Per Account

Up to 1,000 users/account.

Up to 10 users/account.

!Both plans up to 50 users/

account.

Unlimited Users

Merchant account required

No. You create a business

account when you download

the app

No Yes Yes

PayPal Here Square Intuit GoPayment PayAnywhere

Reliability/Glitichines

s!(all have

complaints about

glitchiness that are

corrected)

Transactions can be held

Accounts can be frozen for up to 30 days

or longer

Holds on significant funds can take place

and be hard to remedy as

there is no live customer support

Holds can be placed on

money Large

transactions can be held for up to 30 days

!Online

reviews show glitches with checkouts on

sites like eBay

PayPal Here Square Intuit GoPayment PayAnywhere

Phone & Device

Compatibility

Compatible with: !Apple devices

running iOS 3GS or higher (iPads

with iOS 5 or later)

most Android smartphones

!Incompatible with: !Android tablets !Full Device

Compatibility List

Compatible with: Apple iOS 6.0

and up Android Devices

2.3 and up Some printers

Some cash registers

Incompatible with: !- Android 10

inch tablets !Full Device

Compatibility List

Compatible with: !

Apple devices running iOS 6 or

higher, most Android

devices. !

Full Device Compatibility List

!Compatible

with: !

Iphone 4 and Ipad 2 and

higher running iOS 5.1 or

higher. Some Android

Devices !

Full Device Compatibility

List

PayPal Here Square Intuit GoPayment PayAnywhere

Payment Options

!Visa,

MasterCard, American Express,

Discover, PayPal payments and

debit cards Accepts email

invoices Accept checks for electronic deposit (US

only) Records cash transactions.

Visa, MasterCard,

American Express,

Discover, Square and debit cards

Allows cash transactions to be recorded Allows gift

certificates to be recorded.

Works with all major credit and

debit cards Allows users to

record cash payments.

Visa, MasterCard,

American Express, Discover,

PayPal credit cards, Amex

Allows users to record cash payments.

PayPal Here Square Intuit GoPayment PayAnywhere

Ease/Speed of

set up and processing

Easiest & Fast Free card reader

sent in 5-7 business days.

Easy & Fast Free card reader delivered within 5-10 business

days.

Easy & Fast Free card reader

is delivered within 5-10

business days.

Easy & Fast Free card reader is

delivered within a few business

days.

Speed of access to

money

Instant if you have a PayPal merchant debit

card MasterCard Funds are

transferred to a linked bank

account within 3-5 business

days.

Next day (1-2) business days into a linked

bank account *any funds via transactions

deemed suspicious can be held for a significant

amount of time (months).

2-4 business days

Only funds suspected of

fraud are held.

1 business day.

PayPal Here Square Intuit GoPayment PayAnywhere

IntegrationNCR Silver,

Excel, QuickBooks.

QuickBooks; Xero; Square Connect API: Customized

software solutions.

QuickBooks

AirPrint Cloud Printer, Star

printer, information can be downloaded

into QuickBooks,

cash registers

Support Options

Live phone support

Email support Knowledge

Base.

No phone support

Email support Twitter support Support Center open 24/7 365

year Knowledge base.

Live phone support

Email support Video Tutorials with detailed instructions Knowledge

Base.

Live phone support

(English, Spanish & Chinese)

!Chat support, customer

service/tech !Twitter support !

Knowledge Base

PayPal Here Square Intuit GoPayment PayAnywhere

Security

High Encrypted card

reader Fraud protection

PIN protected 24 hour

monitoring

High Encrypted card

reader Fraud protection Dedicated staff

who monitor transactions.

High Encrypted card

reader PIN protected

Dedicated staff for monitoring.

High Encrypted card

reader Fraud protection

PIN protected and PIN timeout

Extra features to

note

- Create and send electronic

invoices. - offer discounts

- Views sales history.

- Print cash receipts.

-Tips

-Tipping option. -Online receipts.

-Customer loyalty program. -Add inventory

shelf.

- GeoLocation sales tax

- Customized branded

receipts with logos

- pay employees - calculate and payroll taxes.

-Heat map traces sales locations -Allows cash,

discounts, tips -Prints receipts

-Calculates GeoTax based on

location -Inventory set up

-Reporting

Learn More Learn More Learn More Learn More

for Small Business Owners

WhyWe ChosePayPal Here

PayPal Here was our top choice among mobile credit card processors.Set up is fast and free, it’s easy to use, and is compatible with the largest number of devices. With Papal here you get access to your money within minutes.

PayPal here is one of the lowest cost providers,pricing is straightforward and your can enhance customer service by offering multiple payment options.

Does PayPal Here have drawbacks?Holding procedures can block access to funds and it isn’t compatible with Android tablets. Overall, however, with a Better Business Bureau rating of A+, we feel that PayPal Here is the top mobile credit card processing provider for small business.

VS

In-Depth Review

Ease of Use

It takes just a few minutes to get up and running with PayPal Here from many kinds of Apple and Android devices and you can start processing payments easily. It’s free to set up and does not require a merchant account

PayPal Here:

Is that if you get stuck during set-up or when you’re processing, you can access live phone support, unlike with Square.

The Big Plus

Square:Getting set up and taking mobile payments takes just a few minutes with Square and doesn’t require the hassle of setting up a merchant account. Without an abundance of features to figure out, this is a fast and simple solution for many businesses.

is that if you do run into a problem, you’ll have to figure it out for yourself. There is no live customer support by phone though there is email support.

One major con

Here, set up requires a little more time and thought, as you need to set up a merchant account and decide on one of two plans. Taking the time to grasp the payment structure, and what it means to your business if you’re dealing with rewards based credit cards and American Express, will require some number crunching.

Intuit GoPayment:

Though this platform requires a merchant account, once you have set up your merchant account it is also easy to set up and use within minutes. Additional features can take some time to learn, but live phone support helps with that process.

PayAnywhere:

Pricing

Free set up, app and card reader with fairly standard pricing of swiped US cards at 2.7%, keyed rate/scan 3.5% + $0.15 and a swipe rate of 3.7% for non US cards. Check the User Agreement for exceptional and fine details.

PayPal Here:

Free set up, app and card reader. The swipe rate is 2.75% and the keyed rate 3.75% + $0.15, no matter what kind of card you use. !Square no longer offers the flat rate monthly fee of $275. It was dropped in late 2013. Here’s the Square User Agreement.

Square:

Pricing for Intuit GoPayment requires some special thought. There’s the free app and card reader version, which results in a swipe rate of 2.75% and a keyed rate of 3.75%. The other option is the monthly $12.95 version, with a swipe rate of 1.75% and a keyed rate of 2.75%. If you’re doing more than approximately $1,500 USD/month the paid version may be a better option. !Here is Intuit GoPayment’s User Agreement.

Intuit GoPayment:

The least expensive option for those doing $2,000/month or less, this platform also offers a free set up, app and card reader. Swipe rates are 2.69%, a half percent below PayPal Here, with the keyed rate at 3.49% (also a half percent below PayPal Here) + $0.19 ($0.40 higher than PayPal Here). !Here’s PayAnywhere’s user agreement.

PayAnywhere:

Phone Compatibility

Has the widest range of iOS and Android compatibility of the four options. Compatible with Apple devices running iOS 3GS or higher, iPads running iOS 5 or later and most Android smartphones. PayPal Here does not support Android tablets. Be sure you’re your device is a match by checking the compatibility list.

PayPal Here:

As the first card reader provider, Square works with a number of earlier Android versions of devices than PayPal Here and is compatible with Apple devices running iOS 6.0 and later as well as Google Android devices 2.3 and up. It is not compatible with BlackBerry or Windows or 10 inch Android tablets. See the list of compatible devices.

Square:

Compatible with Apple devices running iOS 6 or higher, and most Android devices. GoPayment is incompatible with BlackBerry and Windows. Check the GoPayment list of compatible devices.

Intuit GoPayment:

Compatible with Iphone 4, Ipad 2 and higher; also iOS 5.1 or higher. Most Android devices are not supported, however they claim to be adding more Android devices on a regular basis. See the list of compatible devices here.

PayAnywhere:

Payment OptionsMost mobile credit card processors take all of the major credit

and debit cards. However some charge more for American Express, Discover and non-US cards.

Your customers can pay with Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover, and of course, PayPal. You can also accept electronic checks (US) and track cash payments. Extra charges apply to non-US cards.

PayPal Here:

Square accepts most major credit and debit cards, Square payments. and allows you to track both cash payments and gift certificates.

Square:

All major credit cards and debit cards are accepted. However, higher rates apply to rewards based credit cards, American Express and Discover.

Intuit GoPayment:

Accepts major cards, such as Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover, PayPal credit cards.

PayAnywhere:

Speed of Access to Money

Using a PayPal account, or the PayPal debit MasterCard, you can access your money within minutes of deposit. To transfer to a linked bank account takes 3-5 business days. Something that merchants should be aware of is the practice of putting holds funds, which can last from seven to 30 days, or up to 180 days.

PayPal Here:

Part of Square’s customer promise is next day deposit. It can take between 1 and 2 business days for funds to be deposited. Square recently removed the practice of regularly holding funds, but they can (and do) hold transactions that are deemed suspicious.

Square:

Funds are available in 2-4 business days, with only suspicious transactions being held.

Intuit GoPayment:

This is one of the fastest services with deposits funds in a single business day. Holds can be an issue and there are many online customer reviews complaining of large transactions being frozen for extended periods of time.

PayAnywhere:

Integration

This works with QuickBooks, Excel and services like NCR Silver sales products.

PayPal Here:

Integrations include QuickBooks, Xero and some customized solutions.

Square:

Integrated with QuickBooks and Intuit Point of Sales products.

Intuit GoPayment:

Works with several cloud printers and QuickBook.Square:

SecurityPayPay Here is well protected with encryption of information, fraud protection, PINs and 24 hour monitoring.

PayPal Here:

Dedicated staff monitor activity. Information is encrypted card reader and you are PIN protected.

Intuit GoPayment:

This platform offers an encrypted card reader, fraud protection and is PIN protected with a timeout.

PayAnywhere:

ExtraFeatures

PayPal Here has a lot of extra features. You can create and send electronic invoices, offer discounts, view sales histories, add tips, add inventory, use barcode scanning, process 26 currencies from 193 countries and, something we love, collect information from customers/donors and send them a thank you page.

PayPal Here:

Not as rich as PayPal Here, Square does offer some important extras. These include a tipping option, creating online receipts, setting up customer loyalty programs and adding inventory shelves.

Square:

Intuit is all about the accounting and offer features to help you get it done. With GoPayment, you can add GeoLocation sales tax and look more professional with branded receipts.

Intuit GoPayment:

Extra goodies from PayAnywhere include heat maps that help you identify hot sales locations, printable receipts, GeoTax calculation based on where you are, inventory set up and reporting.

PayAnywhere:

The Bottom LineSmall businesses looking to cash in on mobile credit

card processing can do so quickly, affordably and securely with PayPal Here. It’s an excellent system. It

not only helps you sell wherever you and your customers are, but also has extra features that support your sales, marketing and accounting

processes.

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