How to Choose the Right mPOS for Your Business – A Primer
By Jeremy Fried
Finding the right mobile point-of-sale (mPOS) solution is tough. Each solution excels in one area but leaves something to be desired in another area. Fortunately, this decision-making process can be made easier by focusing on a few specific criteria:
- Security – Payment security is the single most important factor to consider in prospective mPOS solutions. You can have the most innovative, flashy payment processing solution, but none of that matters if it isn’t secure. When choosing an mPOS, look for a solution that will protect your customers’ payment information – no matter what. With security solutions like tokenization and point-to-point encryption (P2PE), a competitive mPOS solution will ensure that you never store, process, or transmit sensitive payment card data – protecting your brand from the damaging effects of a data breach.
- Scaling Up or Down – Scalability is an important factor to consider. Some mPOS solutions are great for businesses with just a few revenue centers, but they lack the potential to grow with the business. For larger businesses, merchants need a mobile solution that can handle the scale and volume of their enterprise and allows them to manage their various revenue centers from one convenient account.
- Device-Agnostic and Neutral – Consider which bank and/or processor you want to use. Some mPOS systems pigeonhole merchants into using a specific bank, processor or both. Your business needs constantly change and evolve over time, so being stuck with a specific bank or processor means you may be unable to negotiate for the best rates and services as your objectives shift. Your best bet is choosing an mPOS solution that is bank and processor neutral as well as device agnostic.
- A Simpler Mobile Process – Payments need to catch up to mobile. Customers expect to be able to pay anywhere, anytime. In addition to a standard brick-and-mortar store or restaurant, places like kiosks, concert venues and food trucks are becoming perfect locations for mobile revenue centers. Customers have countless choices when it comes to their purchasing decisions, and employing an mPOS solution that makes the payment process simpler, more convenient and flexible for them will go a long way toward ensuring they’re spending those dollars with your business.
- Feature flexibility – A truly customizable mPOS solution will allow merchants to get as in-depth as they need to, or keep things simple. A small boutique may only need to account for one state tax; by contrast, a large restaurant chain requires different tax rates applied to items like alcohol, gift cards and food. Merchants with complex menu items may need the ability to add modifiers, such as cooking instructions (rare, medium rare, burned to a crisp, etc.) and include notes for things like food allergies. And what about customizing default tip settings? An mPOS solution with such a flexible feature set can easily grow with your business.
Different merchants have differing needs, and those needs can shift at any time. It’s important to know what elements to focus on when looking for an mPOS solution. This will save you time and headaches, and potentially money as well.
About the author:
Jeremy Fried is a serial entrepreneur with a proven background in software architecture and development, with over eight years of experience in the finance and electronic payment industries. Jeremy joined Shift4 in 2010 and is the overall architect for Shift4’s award-winning VT4® mobile point-of-sale system. VT4 was built to challenge the status quo, fill in the gaps that exist in mixed-solution environments, and address the often-overlooked mobile needs of enterprise-level merchants. Jeremy continues to oversee the growth and expansion of VT4 as Shift4’s Systems Architect.