Credit Card Processing Comparisons
IntelliCharge™ versus
Traditional POS Terminals
For
years, merchants have relied on special hardware for processing credit cards.
This equipment is referred by many as a point-of-sale terminal or authorization
terminal (similar to picture shown on left). These terminals are placed at each
workstation along with a dedicated phone line to process the credit card transactions.
What makes IntelliCharge better to use than the old fashioned point-of-sale
terminals?
For starters, a terminal typically costs between $250 to $750. A
business requiring five workstations can easily spend over $2000 in equipment
to process credit cards. Because of the steep price, some businesses
avoid purchasing altogether and opt to rent these devices at around $25 per
unit monthly. As with any electronic equipment that is used repeatedly,
periodic maintenance fees will be necessary on these devices as well.
Secondly, each terminal requires a dedicated phone line to approve the
credit card transactions. This can quickly add up to big dollars annually
if your business has a large sales group that requires credit card processing
for each workstation.
In contrast, IntelliCharge credit card processing software interfaces and
approves credit cards directly over your existing Internet connection. The hardware involved is practically maintenance-free,
and it's much faster than standard authorization terminals. There are no rolls of paper
or special end-of-day process needed to close out daily credit card activities
either. Also, since the IntelliCharge
program is integrated within ManageMore, it is much easier to do point-of-sale transactions
and cuts down on potential fraud or error from double entry.
Let us compare the costs involved for a business with only five sales workstations:
Technology |
Annual Cost of Terminal Lease* |
Annual Cost of Phone Lines** |
Annual TCO for 5 stations |
Intellicharge™ |
$0 |
$0 |
$0 |
Authorization Terminal |
$1,500 |
$1,800 |
$3,300 |
* Based on a nationwide average
of $25/monthly lease per terminal
** Based on a nationwide average of $30/monthly
per phone line
|