When and Why to Switch to a Modern Card Reader

Today’s businesses are struggling to rise above their rivals in an increasingly global and competitive marketplace. As you fight to carve out a position for yourself in this cutthroat environment, one of your strongest allies should be an updated credit card reader that is attached to a modern smart terminal or point of sale system.

Enhanced security

EMV chip technology, tokenization, and end-to-end encryption make payment transactions safer than ever.

Sensitive customer information is particularly vulnerable when it is being transmitted during the payment process. Today’s readers are carefully designed to safeguard these details. They do so through the use of technologies such as encryption and tokenization that mask the data, rendering it useless to hackers.

Speedier processing

Without sacrificing security, today’s card readers make completing payments faster than ever. As a result, checkout lines are shorter, and stress levels are reduced for both patrons and staff. Additionally, merchants are able to serve more customers.

Support for more payment option types

It is no secret that the use of cash is continuing to drop precipitously. Along with that trend, shoppers are demanding to be given more choice in how their funds are transferred. In addition to taking standard credit cards, today’s readers can be configured to accept everything from contactless Tap to Pay on iPhone transactions to funds from QR codes. 

You can even add a virtual terminal application that allows you to manually enter card-not-present billing details to facilitate phone orders. This flexibility helps you to meet a very strong buyer demand, with the added potential for expansion to a broader customer base.

Streamlined operations and added business insights

A modern card reader is amazing in its own right, but its abilities skyrocket when you integrate it with a larger point of sale system. Thanks to the POS’s database, you can keep track of products throughout their life cycle, making for efficient ordering and intelligent forecasting.

Through the use of the system’s reporting features, you can gain insights into customers’ preferences and buying behaviors. Learning about peak purchasing times helps you to plan for the future. Using the system’s employee management features, you also know facts about each worker’s productivity, strengths, and challenges. This enables you to make important training and staffing decisions.

With every purchase processed by your modern reader, you can integrate with your loyalty program. This incentivizes customers to return and encourages referrals.

Although many of your sales take place in-store via your mobile card reader, a modern system also integrates seamlessly with online. When it is up and running, you can furnish a buying experience that flows effortlessly from your website to your physical store and back again. 

Choosing the best card reader has always been a challenge in a market that is crowded with options. However, the sky is the limit as technology makes for payments that are safer and more flexible than ever. In other words, there is no better time than now to update your systems. When you do, you can take advantage of the infinite capabilities and potential of today’s modern card readers.