Credit card readers are not new inventions. Since the advent of the little plastic card with the magnetic strip, credit card readers have made their way into every single facet of business life, ranging in clients from professional companies to freelancers. There are millions of credit card readers in circulation around the country, being used for retailing purposes. Companies such as Shopify present a selection of card readers that can be used in a number of situations, most impressively, with an iPad point of sale terminal. But the credit card reader has improved the quality of life and of shopping massively in the years it has been around. New chip technology makes it much harder to commit credit card fraud as well. Credit cards and credit card readers have combined to bring these things to the purchasing public:
Security
Credit cards require a photo ID verification, making it extremely difficult for a thief to escape with it and use your card to pilfer your funds. There are times when a card may be stolen, but with a single phone call, the card can be suspended and all transactions frozen. Credit card readers aid in this since the advent of chip technology making it harder for someone to use a stolen card. The chip allows the card to be tracked when it is used, making it easier to catch the culprit. As a security measure, it is very innovative and ensures that people who have their money tied up in credit cards can go to bed safe as their money is securely held in the plastic card.
Dependability
Credit cards give owners the freedom to make purchases in any location that a card reader exists. For the businessperson, this means that the more locations that have an operating card reader means more locations that people will shop it. It is a fact that many people refuse to shop at places where there are no card readers available, simply because the presence of the card readers is comforting to the purchaser. Many people in this day and age prefer to walk around with credit cards instead of cash and if a location lacks a card machine they simply cannot make a purchase because they don’t have the liquid funds available. Transactions done by credit card machine are usually easily traced so that cardholders can track their expenditure in real time through their financial institution, ensuring that they understand exactly where their money was spent.
Freedom
Credit cards carry with them a certain level of responsibility. However, as credit card limits rise, he amount of freedom one has to spend also rises. This gives consumers the choice of using a credit card instead of the cash they have and repaying it later with their liquid assets. The upside to this is that consumers tend to reap rewards from the cards they use. Keeping this in mind, it is obvious that they would use the credit card at every available opportunity to spend cash. Having a card machine makes it easy for them to spend at every available point, benefiting the merchant as well as the customer. It would be awry for a merchant to be unable to provide the service of having a card machine ready for a customer that required it. To that end, a merchant should make it their responsibility to have a credit card reader on hand to be used at every opportunity that a customer demands it, giving the customer the freedom to choose between either cash or plastic.
Ease of Use
We have all had the embarrassing situation where we find ourselves counting out bills to buy something only to realize that we either have no change or have too much change. Then there’s the awkward situation of having coins and nowhere to keep them. Credit cards have managed to look past this point and have created a system by which a consumer can have all their money stored digitally to be used with whatever transaction they undertake. No need to carry around a bulky wallet full of bills when you can simply replace them with a few credit cards and be on your way. Transactions with credit cards also don’t generate change. However, in order for a customer to have access to this ease of use, the merchant must have a card reader to run the card through. This is yet another reason why consumers prefer to shop at places that have card machines, simply because they don’t see the need for engaging in the archaic use of cash.
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Personal Capital lets you see all of your accounts in one convenient place. Sign up now for free.In the long run, investing in a credit card reader is in the best interests of a company, especially one that deals in retail, or in the transfer of large sums of money. It encourages trust between the merchant and the consumer as well as gives a much easier way to pay. The way forward is the use of credit cards as a means of payment and the earlier a company adopts this, the better off they will be.
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