Use Square’s New Credit Card Terminal for Taking In-Store Payments
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If you’re a Shopify store owner in Australia or New Zealand, you probably already know the POS dilemma. In a minute, I’ll be diving into the terminal-Shopify POS issue. Although we can’t yet herald the perfect solution for this, Square terminal is definitely worth a shout-out for its expert and transparent response to retailers’ instore payment needs.
The current drawback of Shopify POS in Australia
Shopify POS is a superb app – the real-time and automated system updates to your inventory and orders saves time and gives you valuable data on your business’ operations. Before I get into the product launch, I need to divulge the specific struggle that AU and NZ merchants are experiencing – the lack of a Shopify POS integrated credit card terminal.
At the moment, merchants are processing sales on their POS tablet and manually entering the total order into their credit card terminal. And our clients’ tell us that there’s just too much room for error. An extra zero or two doesn’t exactly make their customers jump for joy when they see their bank statement!
Unfortunately, there’s not a whisper of Shopify releasing their own fully integrated credit card terminal package in Australia. We have a hunch it’s down to tight regulations and that it’s not going to be rolling out in the short term.
What is the Square Terminal?
Square Terminal is an all-in-one credit and EFTPOS machine for payments as well as receipts. If you’re finding the eftpos options with Shopify POS to be a bit too cumbersome for your liking – this might just be the terminal for you.
And it’s just been released for Australian retail merchants.
Now, it’s important to mention that it doesn’t completely solve the problem. What it does do is get rid of the – let’s be frank – ugly, dated bank terminals and gives your payment system a professional, sleek upgrade.
Features of the Square Terminal
As you’d expect with any modern credit card terminal, contactless cards, devices and chip card payments are all accepted.
Square’s data security
This terminal business is pretty hot on data security and has invested a lot to ensure that their customers and yours are protected from security breaches. Every stage of the payment is encrypted using coding best practices, compliant data storage as well as systematic security updates.
Your payments will also be PCI compliant when processed through Square. They handle the expense and time investment of dealing with assessors, SAQ requirements, and audits with no extra cost to you.
How much does Square Terminal cost?
We’ve got to say that unlike most terminals, the costs are very transparent. The terminal along with power adapter and receipt roll costs $439, and delivery is free. They also have a charge of 1.6% per transaction – whether it’s tap, dip or swipe. The high transaction costs is a draining cost for a lot of retailers in recent years and Square’s model goes against the tide of random charges and fees most terminals will throw at you!
You’re also not going to be locked into a long-term contract. Square lets you test run your new terminal for the first 30-days with no strings attached. Happy days!
Manage payment disputes with Square Terminal
Your terminal will monitor for any suspicious activities and block fraudulent transactions. We know how much of a nightmare it is for eCommerce merchants when these threats break through. We strongly advise that whatever terminal you choose to go with has robust measures in place to protect your hard-earned profits.
Payment disputes are also dealt with by Square’s team of experts who deal with the bank for you so you can avoid nasty chargebacks.
This really is a great terminal. And though it doesn’t solve the lack of a fully-integrated credit card terminal for AU and NZ merchants using Shopify POS – it takes care of pretty much all your other payment processing needs. As we said, we don’t see the perfect solution coming soon, so we’re offering this as one of the best alternatives.
If you need any other advice about payment processing management, we’ve got a whole dedicated blog section. If you’re looking to streamline processes, strengthen your brand community, sort out some operational logistic related headaches – book a consultation with the ecommerce experts.