Bank card Processor machines - comparison

[lebanon]

Hi guys,
Im looking at different card payment processing machines for a mobile business.
The cheapest seem to be those that work with the smartphone like -
Ikhoka
Yoco
Surepay etc..
But im reading terrible reviews on hellopeter.com

Is it better to pay more and go for the official bank's card machine?

What experience have you had with the different ones, and what worked best for you?

 

[krycor]

Tough one.. each Point Of Sale (POS) make & model has a different rate of failure, then you have the acquiring fee(typically % per tran) etc.

While you can get lower cost/transaction by owning(instead of leasing) your own pos machine, it does mean that if the pos breaks, you replace and sort with manufacture(if warrentee).

If I recall correctly you need to do a significant volume or rand value per month to get the acquiring costs down else you will be paying upward of 2% per tran.

 

[krycor]

I’m not a merchant so dunno the complexities, just what I see in the market.

There is also (noticed recently):

Flash.. but they seem pricey.

Don’t forget QR/Cardless:
SnapScan/Zapper but last I checked their cost was also bit much.

Again best rate is attained going direct with a bank.

Yoco (Square & Stripe copycat) I like the UI/stock management stuff which they seem to get more right with same friction removing byline(Stripe) so they seem cool. They do QR integration too via the above but dunno if they get better rates?

I dunno.. interesting market but again your costs come down to device failure rate(rent vs lease, which can be tricky deciding which way to go) & negotiating preferable acquiring rates(banks win here). And here you would need contact each with an estimate of number transactions, values and locations & preference(mobility, data, ruggedness etc of pos). So no easy one size fits all solution and will vary as your business evolves/grows & different market players require more market share.