New Credit Card Swipe Apps Aim to Compete with PayPal

When people think of mobile swipe apps, PayPal usually comes to mind. That may be because PayPal has recently spent a number of marketing dollars pushing the app down your throat. However, there are a number of great companies that offer this service. Whether you want to collect payments on the produce you sell at a farmers market or want to sell items at a yard sale, there’s plenty of apps for that.
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Why Mobile Swipe Apps Are Growing in Popularity

Self-employment is big business. With many people losing their jobs, some have had no choice but to create their own businesses. Because many of these businesses are ran on a shoe string budget, cheaper is better. Therefore, investing in expensive credit card equipment isn’t ideal. Then there’s the fact that many small businesses may do business at flea markets, from food trucks, or in other locations where credit card processing equipment wouldn’t work. That’s where the mobile swipe app comes in handy. With the ability to process credit and debit card transactions from anywhere, small businesses can make more sales.

How Small Businesses Can Benefit

Before the mobile swipe app became popular, businesses could accept credit cards through their phone, but it was more complicated and the hardware was expensive. Today’s mobile swipe apps usually include free hardware and have low transaction fees. This means that businesses no longer have to turn paying customers away because they can’t accept credit or debit cards. With more and more people having their paychecks directly deposited into their bank accounts, fewer people carry cash. This means that if businesses want to compete, they need to accept all forms of payment.

Several Options to Choose From

There are a number of great mobile swipe apps to choose from. One of the most popular is offered by PayPal, but other companies include Groupon, Moblized, Intuit, and Square. However, one mobile swipe app that is making big news is the Goodsmiths’ app. The app is not only free to download, but during the first 30 days of use, businesses pay $0 for the first $1000 worth of transactions. After that the fee is 2.69 percent. Available for Apple devices, the Goodsmiths app offers an upper hand in that it tracks inventory. When a cash or credit sale is made, the item is deducted from the stores inventory. This would be incredibly useful for a number of businesses.
Is one mobile swipe app better than another? That’s hard to say. What can be said is that some apps fit some businesses better than others. This means you need to do your homework and choose the best app for your business needs.