Almost all retail businesses accept credit cards these days and usually do it through a hardware credit card processing terminal. Other businesses that work remotely or at their customers locations are not taking credit cards as much these days for a few reasons. First, many of them are used to invoicing their customers for the transaction total and getting paid later. OR, it may be a hassle to write down the credit card number and process it later in the office.

Portable credit card processing machines are getting more common and have a ton of advantages for mobile businesses. First, processing the card on the spot is better for the business and for their customers. The transactions costs will be lower when scanning the card itself versus typing in the information later. Also, you can tell a rejected transaction right away and request a different card or a check instead. You also don't need to deal with invoices, collections, and depositing checks at the bank. From a customer's point of view, they prefer that you don't have their precious credit card number written down and like to get a printed receipt on the spot. Though the cost of a portable terminal is not cheap, most businesses can easily justify it both in terms of added convenience and added revenue compared to older methods of taking payments from customers. Ask your merchant services provider if they have the option of using a portable terminal for your payments and streamline your payments processing today.