The Merchant Processing Guru

The Merchant Processing Guru Tip#12: Credit Card Processing with Mobile Solutions continued – Virtual Terminal with a Mobile computer. The virtual terminal gives you the ability to process credit cards anywhere in the world as long as you have an internet connection and a computer. This is why I have included it as one of the available mobile solutions. A really good terminal will allow you to add a USB “Mag Swipe” so you can swipe cards on a laptop anywhere as long as you have an internet connection.

The virtual terminal has fast become a popular alternative to a traditional terminal in many office environments as it is so easy to use and there are no equipment or software costs. Another reason this has become a popular option recently is because of new PCI compliance requirements, certain software versions have become obsolete as they are not PCI compliant and the cost of upgrading to a newer version is quite high in comparison to getting set up with a virtual terminal. While some virtual terminals have setup fees, some will be free to set up. You will have what is called a gateway fee each month in addition to any other monthly fees of approx. $15.00 – $25.00 per month so keep this in mind when considering this option.