The best card-machine for your business is based largely on how your business works. The key variables are:

i) How much revenue you make on a monthly basis.

This dictates if you should use a card reader with lower % and a higher monthly fee.

For example:

You need a card reader for your small flea market stall which earns $400. Lets say you can choose a card reader that charges 2%, this would equal = $8 a month. This is better than a credit card machine that charges 1% and $20 a month fee ($24 in total.)

ii) The payment types you accept

Some payment processors pass on fees from the card schemes (Visa, Mastercard.Amex, Discover etc ) and the and the so called 'intercharge fee' which are largely dictated by the card type (premium, personal and corporate.) Typically rewards and premium (elite and platinum type cards) and corporate cards cost the most whilst Debit cost the less to process.

Other payment providers charge flat rates. So if your business does process a lot of the more expensive card types it would make sense to work with a card reader that charges a flat rate.


Best Credit Card Machines for Variable Low Fees

PayJunction - has one of the highest tech card readers, with a large screen built into a what resembles a computer keyboard. It takes swipe,chip, NFC and contactless payments. You connect it to the internet via Ethernet cable and you're ready to process payments. If you process more than $10,000 the $35 monthly fee is waived. They also offer to "match or beat your existing rates from your current provider". They'll also provide the terminal free if you average $25,000 a month.

Their average fees are:
Swiped Debit Card - 0.8%
Keyed Debit Card - 0.8%
Swiped Credit Card - 2.26%
Keyed Credit Card - 2.55%
ACH Check processing - 0.75%
Transaction fee - $0.07 (which is added to every transaction)

However their pricing is variable, they do charge the interchange rate + a small markup on every transaction.

Stax by Fattmerchant - Has three credit card readers the Chipper 2X BT, Stax’s Chipper BT and the Stax’s EMV terminal. They charge some of the lowest fees for credit and debit card processing. Their fee structure is the interchange fee + $0.08/$0.15 so the fees for various cards are:

Average Debit Cards - 0.30% + $0.08
Average Credit Cards - 1.51% + $0.15

They also charge a monthly fee of $100.

These are just the average though, the issuing banks dictate the interchange fee as does the card type and card scheme (Mastercard, Visa etc.) So if you're looking for reliable and consistent fees than it's better to choose a flat rate card reader, that will only charge based on the type of card.


Best Credit Card Machines for Flat Rate Low Fees

CardX - Is by far the cheapest card machine in terms of pricing. They do this by passing on their fees (3.5%) to your customers when they use more expensive to process credit cards or if they decide they don't want to pay this fee, CardX encourages them to use debit cards which you'll pay 1% and $0.25 for. They also charge a $35 a month fee for the machine rental.To achieve the 1% + $0.25 rate for key-entry, you'll need to sign up for a virtual terminal which is free.

Best for Higher Volume Merchants

Helcim - has their own card reader too, which looks a bit like a calculator and is more portable than PayJunction's Zero Touch. Their fee structure really only makes sense for businesses that process a lot of personal cards and:

i) that have a lot of monthly revenue or
ii) have higher average transaction amount.

For example:
If you process an average amount of $100 per transaction (with no minimum processed) mostly personal Visa and Mastercard you'll pay 1.45% + $0.08.
If you process an average amount of $50 per transaction (with no minimum processed)  mostly personal Visa and Mastercard you'll pay 1.60% + $0.08.

If you process an average amount of $25 per transaction with $25,000 - 50,000 mostly personal Visa and Mastercard you'll pay 1.79% + $0.07.
If you process an average amount of $25 per transaction with $100,000 - 250,000 mostly personal Visa and Mastercard you'll pay 1.73% + $0.06.

They lower their prices for companies mostly based on the average transaction sized but also based on your revenue (although your revenue lowers the fees less than than higher average transaction fees.)


Best Credit Card Machine for Small Business

Square - offers one of the all round best flat fee plans for small business. Their fee of 2.6% is higher than the QuickBooks 2.4% but they have a lower transaction fee which is  $0.10 versus QuickBook's $0.25. So if you process a lot of high volume payments with a low number of transactions then Quickbooks may be a better value for your business.

Swiped/Chip: 2.6% + 10¢
Keyed in: 3.5% + 15¢

The most versatile card machine is the Square Reader for Contactless and Chip. It's compatible with Android and iOS and costs a one off $49 fee.

Best Credit Card Machine for Fastest Payouts

PayJunction  - Payout in 1 day or maximum 2 (if it's ACH or charges occured after 5pm PST). They charge the interchange rate + flat fee of their own.

PayAnywhere - "Within one business day of the sales processed by 5 p.m. EST."The Smart Terminal Mini costs $250 and they charge a flat fee of :
Swiped, Dip, or Tap: 2.69%
Keyed: 3.49% + $0.19

It includes a 5" HD touchscreen, 4G and wifi connectivity, and barcode scanner camera. It comes with 24/7 customer service. It runs on Android software. They charge $9.95 a month fee as well.

QuickBooks - "Deposits are sent to the bank account linked to your QuickBooks Debit Card in up to 30 minutes." The QuickBooks Chip and Magstripe Card Reader cost a once off $19. The reader accepts chip, swipe and contactless. They charge a flat fee of:
Swiped/Chip or Tap : 2.4% + $0.25
Keyed in: 3.4% + $0.25
If your monthly revenue exceeds $7,500 you can also lower your fees.

Square - "Payments taken before 5 p.m. PT/8 p.m. ET will be available in your bank account the next business day. Payments accepted on Friday before 5 p.m PT will post to your bank account by Monday morning." Square’s free credit card reader works with the free Square Point of Sale app and connects to your iPhone or Android device by the audio jack or charging point (for newer iPhones.) It won't accept contactless cards. They charge a flat fee of:
Swiped/Chip: 2.6% + 10¢
Keyed in: 3.5% + 15¢


Best Credit Card Machine for Accepting Crypto

GoCrypto - is the only credit card machine that lets your customers pay in crypto (or via WeChat, Alibaba, Valu and normal cards.) They charge 1.25% for accepting Crypto and you accept 40+ cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Litecoin (LTC), Tezos (XTZ), GoCrypto token (GoC)and Viberate token (VIB). They also charge from 0.99% for accepting credit and debt cards, but that's on their starting rate.

What are the Key features to look for in a credit card reader?

A credit card machine is a machine that can be plugged into a computer, a phone or a POS system to accept credit card payments. There are many types of credit card machines, like the larger Ingenico models you'd expect at department store or the smaller iPhone or iPad credit card machines that plug into the iPhone's charging port, some accept just NFC payments (like PayWave or Apple Pay) others take just chip cards (those credit cards with the small sim card sized chip) whilst others take just swipe cards.

To find the best credit card machine for your business, so you can accept card payments compare all the vendors fees, payout times, and cards accepted here.

Credit card machines work after you swipe, insert, or tap your card, the credit card reader passes the transaction request to the merchant bank (the merchant being the business you're buying from). The merchant bank sends a request to the issuing bank (your bank), which checks to see if the cardholder has enough cash or credit before authorizing the movement of funds to the merchant bank. The credit card machine keeps track of these authorizations in batches for future settlements. Depending on merchant preferences, the actual transfer of funds can happen within one to two business days. 

The functionality of these machines differs slightly on the kind of card you own. Much like its name reveals, magnetic stripe cards store payment information in the magnetic strip on the back. After swiping the card, the information is sent to the reader and then the acquiring bank. Magnetic stripe cards have become less popular because of their more vulnerable to fraud . The strip contains static information, which is easily obtained with credit-card skimmers and accessed by fraudsters. Chip (EMV) cards have largely replaced magnetic stripe cards due to their encrypted data feature. The chip, which contains cardholder information, and the reader allow for the encrypted data to change for every transaction, making it more secure and less accessible to fraudsters. 

There are also credit card readers for near field communication (NFC) or contactless payments, which usually involve holding a smartphone or wearable device over a reader. Like chip cards, NFC payments are safer than magnetic stripe cards because they utilize encrypted and changing data for each transaction. Apple Pay or Samsung Pay are examples of NFC payment apps that have become increasingly popular during the coronavirus pandemic.

Accepting credit-card payments is relatively straightforward today, physically accepting credit-card payments you'll need a credit card machine and an internet connection (either via your phone or wifi) that's it!

There are a number of factors you'll need to take into account before selecting a credit card machine. The first how much revenue you process a month, what cards and payment types you'll need to accept and where you'll be taking payments. These are key questions as the amount of revenue you have will dictate if you want a higher % lower monthly fee machine or vice versa. Also the kinds of cards you want to accept will also determine which credit card machine you should get.

Each different credit card machine comes with different terms, some charge higher % of a transaction and lower monthly fees, whilst others have lower fees but charge a monthly subscription that is higher. Check out the full comparison of credit card readers here.

If you're looking to take online payments you should check out our Payment Gateways list. 

What is the Square virtual terminal?

The Square virtual terminal is not a credit card machine but a payment gateway to take remote payments (either via the internet, email or phone call.) The Square virtual terminal is great for your businesses ecommerce payment needs but won't solve the same problem a credit card machine will so we recommend you use both if you sell online and in store.

What is Square Up ?

Square Up is just the domain name of Square. You'll find their full list of products for accepting payments in person and online at Squareup.com

What are some Square alternatives?

The main Square competitors in the U.S are Stripe, PayPal, Clover, Sumup and Poynt. Each different company offers different transaction fees and monthly fees so we recommend you compare all the vendors on our credit card reader comparison table here.

Can I buy the Square reader Walmart?

Yes, you can buy the Square Reader for Contactless and Chip for $41 or the Square Credit Card Magstripe Reader for $6. It always pays to check the Square website as they may send it one free if you sign up for their software services.


Can I buy the Square reader Walgreens?

Yes you can but seemingly not online, only in store, again we recommend you check Square's site first

Can I buy the Square reader Best Buy?

Yes, you can buy the Square Reader for Contactless and Chip for $42 or the Square Credit Card Magstripe Reader for $7 from Best Buy. It always pays to check the Square website as they may send it one free if you sign up for their software services.

There are many creditcard readers for android Square, Quickbooks, Shopify, Clover, Chase, PayPal and many others offer credit card readers that are compatible with Android. We track well over 40 credit card readers that are Android compatible. To see and compare the full list of credit card readers for android click here.

Yes there are a number wireless creditcard machines, Square, SumUp and Paypal have a number of card readers that can connect directly to an iPhone, iPad or Android device but any wireless creditcard machines has to be charged and connected to via bluetooth or directly to a device.

You can buy the PayPal credit card machines directly from their website. It's best to buy direct from PayPal as you'll get the newest readers that work with the most modern devices. You can also pick them up on Amazon.

Where can I buy PayPal here printer?

PayPal doesn't offer it's own receipt printer, but you can pick up a receipt printer from Amazon, Best Buy, NewEgg or any number of physical or ecommerce stores.

PayPal Here for iPhone and iPad (iOS) supports the following receipt printers:

Portable printers

 Stationary printers

 PayPal Here for Android supports the following receipt printers:

Portable printers

Most credit card machines don't in and of themselves have a facility to take over the phone payments. The POS solution you use often has the capacity to take a card payment over the phone. We recommend you check out the Square Virtual Terminal as it allows you to quickly and cheaply take creditcard payments via the phone.

A magentic card reader is one of the most basic credit card machines, it is usually a device that plugs into your computer via USB. It's only accepts Magstripe cards (those cards you swipe.) These days they're pretty old technology but that means you can pick them up for under $10 bucks.

Remember that any card reader like this you buy you'll need to find a payment processor who can process the payment, the advantage of PayPal, Square, SumUp etc is they provide the hardware and the payment processing so you can focus on selling and not setting up payment flows.

SumUp offer two credit card machines in the US, the Plus which is a small calculator type device that connects to your computer or phone via Bluetooth, but is standalone so you can use it anywhere, it charges via Micro USB and lasts 500 transactions on one charge.

The other credit card machine offered by SumUp is the Lite it is a small card reader with no interface it takes NFC, Chip and PayWave payments but doesn't take swipe cards. You need to pair it with your smart device. It charges via Micro USB and lasts for 300 transactions.

Stripe doesn't make their own credit card reader but have connected their payment gateway to two third party credit card readers the BBPOS Chipper which takes chip, NFC and PayWave cards and the Verifone P400 a modern card reader which takes chip, stripe NFC and PayWave payments.

Check out both credit card readers on our credit card readers list here.