Understanding the Features of Credit Terminals
When you look at credit terminals, you may be a bit bewildered when
you read about features, or when a sales person starts telling you
about the various features of various terminals. Before you get through
the features of one, you've already forgotten the features of the last
product that you looked at. You need a clearer understanding of the
features before you begin your search.
Most terminals have the
same physical characteristics. These include a display screen, a
printer, a keypad, and a magnetic reader for swiping credit cards.
Naturally, you wouldn't select a terminal that was missing any of these
physical features, and those features are fairly self explanatory. It
is the hidden features that you need to know more about.
First,
just because credit terminals have keypads, this is not the same as an
external PIN pad. An external PIN pad allows your customers to enter
their PIN numbers if they are required - such as when debit cards are
used. Your business may be a type that does not require this external
component, but if it does, it needs to be a part of the system.
Debit
cards are another issue that you need to be aware of. Not all terminals
have the ability to handle debit cards, and not all merchant accounts
allow the use of debit cards. Many customers these days will use debit
cards instead of credit cards or checks, and you need the ability to
accept them.
It is vital that credit terminals these days offer
AVS. AVS stands for Address Verification System, and it is this system
that allows us to avoid and cut down on a great deal of credit card
fraud, resulting in fewer charge backs. Make absolutely sure that you
ask about AVS when you purchase or lease your equipment, and if AVS
isn't used in the system, look for a different solution that does
include it.
Memory will be a big issue for you. There are three
things to consider when it comes to memory - the actual memory of the
terminal, the flash memory, and a store and forward feature, which also
uses memory. The more terminal memory there is, the more transactions
you can store and forward. Be sure to ask how much terminal memory
there is, and how many transactions that memory can hold - and that
there is a store and forward feature included.
The flash memory
may not seem overly important to you, but it really is. The flash
memory is used to store the software that the terminal requires for
operation. This should include features that allow the terminal to
automatically download, install, and store updates to the systems
software as they become available as well.
As you can see, there
are many different features that you must consider when purchasing Credit Terminals and you want to make sure that you get the features
that you require for your business transactions. Of course, the
features listed here are just a few of many, and there may be other
features available that are more specific to your needs.