Smart Square Pricing, Alternatives complete guide
Smart Square is a financial services and mobile payments company. It was the brainchild of Twitter co-founder Jack, who launched his first app in 2011. Its main product, the Reader, accepts payment through an audio jack connected to a mobile device. For years, it has been improving its software, adding more options and services and becoming the most popular vendor in the market. So what makes it so popular? First, it charges customers a flat fee for each credit card transaction. Second, it offers a separate reader for Android and iOS devices. At least 2.6%+10 cents for swiping cards and 3.5%+15 cents for typing information manually.
Who Is Smart Square Best For?
It’s easy to understand why Smart Square has been so popular with small businesses since its launch in 2010. The company named its square mobile card reader after the one it gave customers free of charge, allowing them to accept payment anywhere. Smart Square offers an all-in-one credit card processing facility that is quick to set up and easy to use. Companies can use Square’s free mobile credit card reader (plug into any smartphone or tablet) and free POS software to accept credit card payments in minutes. No contracts, minimum requirements or upfront fees make Smart Square ideal for new businesses that don’t want to invest in credit card processing systems.
Smart Square Plans and Pricing
Payment processing companies are notorious for publishing multiple fees charged by card companies, banks, and compliance standards, confusing business owners with what they are paying. Smart Square eliminates all of this with a unified transaction fee structure. There is no launch fee, subscription fee, or refund fee charged to Smart Square. Smart Square also offers a free iPhone or Android Square reader, allowing businesses to accept payments on the go.
Credit Card Payments
Smart Square charges 2.6% plus 10 cents for each transaction, with each transaction involving a tap, tap or swipe. It includes prepaid gift cards, cards such as Mastercard, Visa, Discover and JCB, and mobile wallets such as Google Pay, Apple Pay and Samsung Pay. Smart Square charges a transaction fee of 3.5% plus 15 cents per transaction for in-person payments on hand-entered cards, virtual transactions, or withdrawals from archived cards. Smart Square charges 2.9% plus 31 cents for purchases made through online stores, checkout, e-commerce application programming interfaces (APIs), or online invoices. Smart Square’s credit card processing fees are not the cheapest on the market.
Smart Square Alternatives
PayPal
PayPal is a giant in online payments, but it has also made important strides in cards. PayPal Here is one of Smart Square’s fiercest competitors. It offers several different readers, but only the first standard is free. You can accept payment with a magnetic stripe credit and debit card. If you want more equipment, they cost $14.99. However, PayPal offers a device that, combined with all other devices, costs $149. PayPal Here works on Android, iOS and even Windows phones and tablets. 2.7% per payment; PayPal Here allows checking processing, discounts and refunds.
Clover
Unlike previous choices, Clover offers many different options for systems, many of which do not require intelligent devices. The Clover Go is a Bluetooth card reader and costs $59 to get, while the Clover Flex accepts all payments and scans the barcode, which is fine for a handheld device, albeit at $449. Clover’s software works with all processors operating on the First Data platform, and First Data is one of the largest processors in the world. When it comes to the structure of Clover’s credit card transaction fees, it can be a flat rate or an interchange fee.
ShopKeep – Perfect for Bars & Coffee Shops
If you are in the beverages or food service industry, ShopKeep provides all the necessary features. The good elements for restaurants, bars and coffee shops are tracking stocks and raw materials, reporting profits, and reminding you if stocks are low. In terms of the services of the deal, ShopKeep sends orders to the chefs and can split up and update them if necessary. Retailers can also use ShopKeep because its CSV spreadsheet option is used for inventory and Bluetooth barcode scanners.
QuickBooks GoPayment
GoPayment is the best service for midsize companies. It can also benefit small companies, but only if they handle a few small transactions; otherwise, they will pay substantial fees. From that perspective, a $15 deal on GoPayment costs 61 cents, compared with 49 cents on the Square. On the other hand, the GoPayment app doesn’t cost anything (although it only works on iOS and Android devices), has no set-up fees, and has no early termination fees. Plus, GoPayment doesn’t have long-term contracts, so there’s room to save money. By subscribing to GoPayment, you’ll get a full merchant account. GoPayment offers two models – pay-per-view or monthly.
NCR Silver: A Very Good Alternative
NCR has been an innovator, from a cash register in the 19th century to mobile POS services. NCR Silver not only handles payments but also features marketing tools. With it, restaurants and retailers can post announcements about sales or special pricing and share them on social media to reach more customers. NCR Silver offers POS packages for Android and iOS devices for a free trial period of two weeks. The system can add a card reader, scanner, receipt printer, etc. Its customer support is continuous, and you can contact the NCR agent anytime. With NCR Silver, the payment processor determines transaction costs.
Final Words:
Smart Square is an easy decision for small and medium businesses (SMBs). Transaction fees are easily understood, the pay-as-you-go model does not include a monthly fee, the platform includes many free features such as a card reader, and the software is user-friendly, meaning anyone on the team can use it without much training. Large enterprises may balk at Smart Square because the cost of using Smart Square can grow faster than competitors charging monthly fees to handle total sales.
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