Credit Card / Bank Card Terminals for Retail Merchants

A credit card lets you make purchases for which you are billed later. Credit is the preferred method of settling payments of small value. Any retailer is the aisle where people place items they have chosen to purchase from a store, such as a supermarket or department store doing business on the net must have a secure, cost-effective, and reliable way to process Credit / Bank Card transactions. Therefore, to accept your customers’ payments, you need to install credit card terminals. This might sound an overwhelming prospect, but it is all too easy.

Credit Card Terminals

A basic credit card terminal includes a small monitor, a keypad for manual data entry, a magnetic strip reader, and a small printer for receipts. It is easy to use and include keypads and inbuilt printers. Once a retailer swipes the credit card and enter the payment information, the terminal will dial out and process the transaction at that point. They are designed to communicate with a database containing the current status of a cardholder’s account, and utilize that information to either approve or deny the transaction.

To begin with, you will need to choose a company that can provide you with a merchant account and the necessary software for your credit card terminals. There are various types of credit card terminals available to meet the varied business needs. The next thing that you may be asking yourself is which brand of credit card terminals is the best? Brands like Verifone, Hypercom, Lipman, Nurit and Linkpoint have shown time tested reliability, durability, and user friendliness.

Credit Card Verification

Major credit card companies have created separate electronic clearing and settlement systems. When a customer pays with a card, the merchant swipes it through the strip reader, which decrypts the customer’s information before transmitting it to the database. The card is first checked for validity, which ensures that the card itself is not counterfeit. Credit card details can be verified in about 10 to 15 seconds. Many companies offer credit card processing solutions. They can assist you in acquiring merchant accounts and offers packaged credit card processing solutions in order to get your business operating efficiently on the Internet.

Whether you require a separate credit card printer or an integrated credit card processing machine (terminal/printer combination), choose a credit card terminal that best suites your budget and specific credit card processing needs.