Credit card terminal
Encyclopedia
Debit card
A debit card is a plastic card that provides the cardholder electronic access to his or her bank account/s at a financial institution...
or a credit card
Credit card
A credit card is a small plastic card issued to users as a system of payment. It allows its holder to buy goods and services based on the holder's promise to pay for these goods and services...
.
Several types of credit card terminals are available to merchant
Merchant
A merchant is a businessperson who trades in commodities that were produced by others, in order to earn a profit.Merchants can be one of two types:# A wholesale merchant operates in the chain between producer and retail merchant...
s. Most have the same basic purpose and functions. They allow a merchant to swipe or key in required credit card
Credit card
A credit card is a small plastic card issued to users as a system of payment. It allows its holder to buy goods and services based on the holder's promise to pay for these goods and services...
information and transmit such data to the merchant service provider. Most newer models processes credit cards, gift cards, and are expandable to perform check verification. The majority of credit card terminals transmit data over a standard telephone line or the internet. Wireless terminals can transmit card data using either cellular networks or satellite networks. Some also have the ability to store data and transmit over a standard telephone line when one becomes available.
Using a smartphone and the appropriate software, a merchant can replace the functionality of a dedicated hardware credit card terminal using a credit card terminal app running on their smartphone. These credit card terminal apps support manual entry of the credit card number. The apps may work with hardware devices known as swipers or credit card readers to transfer the credit card track data to the app. An app which is capable of reading the credit card track data will help the merchant receive a better discount rate on their credit card processing costs.
Key functionality of a Credit Card Terminal.
The credit card terminal of today has multiple facets. Depending on the needs of the merchant and the type of transactions processed by the card issuing bank, key operations and functions include:
- Acceptance of credit, debit and charge cards (both domestic and international)
- Key Entry (mail and telephone order)
- Tips
- Refunds and Adjustments
- Settlement (including Automatic)
- Pre-Authorisation
- Remote Initialisation and Software update
- POS Integration
- Multi-merchant Capabilities
- Pen or PIN
- Surcharge Function
- Secure Password Operation