Choosing the right electronic payment terminal

Allowing customers to pay by credit card with the guarantee of being paid is one of the advantages of an electronic point of sale (EPOS) for the vendor. At a time when billions of credit cards are in circulation in Europe for hundreds of billions of pounds in annual transactions, everyone is concerned. You can rent – even for a short time, for a trade fair, for example – or buy an EPOS. Here is all you need to know to choose the right one.

EPOS – secure, universal electronic payment

An electronic point of sale confirms a sale by reading a customer's personal bank account information via a card. It verifies solvability before printing out a report of the transaction on a receipt. The EPOS then transmits to the vendor's bank. The card read can be a credit or debit card, an electronic wallet such as Proton, any other smart or magnetic card etc.

Transmission is performed using landlines, mobile telephone networks or the Internet and ADSL. This depends on the model and the store's connectivity.

Selection criteria

To choose the right electronic point of sale, you should look at how the business operates and consider :

• the average number of daily transactions. For up to 200 transactions per day, 2-4 MB of RAM is sufficient; for any more, 8 MB would be needed.
• the checkout setup – fixed to the counter, mobile or independent;
• do you want contactless payments with the new cards with built-in antennas?
• peak business hours – how fast do you need transactions to be?

Then, depending on your equipment plan (model, number of EPOS), check the financial and contractual aspects, in particular:

• the manufacturer or lessor's guarantees in the event of a breakdown,
• any additional subscriptions you should take out, for example,
• with your bank for the electronic payment gateway for information flows, the commissions charged for each payment.

Renting or buying your electronic point of sale

Buying is cheaper than renting. As a precaution, we also recommend that you take out a maintenance contract to cover any technical problems.

Renting gives you more flexibility. It means you can change models during the contract or rent for a limited period, from 24 hours up to several years.

Most packages include:

• help with equipment installation,
• a technical support helpline,
• replacement in the event of breakdown etc.