Take Credit Cards on your Phone

By BD Bondy

​I’ve noticed a lot of art shows coming up in the Abiquiu News. There are not only art shows, but classes, classified ads, and other things that will require a transfer of money. Cash is always great, but sometimes, it’s not convenient.

While we are not hosting at the Abiquiu Studio Tour this year, in the past, we have supported many delightful artists and they needed to be able to accept credit card transactions. Typically, our artists used the Square App. This app acts as a simple credit card terminal, point of sale device, and allows someone to create an invoice and take a credit card, right from their phone or tablet. 

Read about the Square App HERE. 

There are many such apps, if you don’t want to use Square, such as Clover, PaySimple, and Google’s ProPay. They generally all work the same, though they may have different fees. You need to check that part out. You shouldn’t need a device to read most cards, but they may provide a card reader for free, or for a fee. Again, you need to check that out.

We use Square at our house. It allows entering card info manually if you don’t have a reader, and it allows for storing sales if you don’t have an internet connection at the time.  Improvements to Square also allow you to accept 'tap to pay' credit cards without a reader if you have a smart phone capable of that.   All these apps will eventually require communication with the mothership to process your CC Transactions.

If you decide to do this, I highly recommend preparing for it well ahead of time. You will need to download the app, setup your account, tie your account in with your bank, and TEST IT! Get familiar with how it works and test it out a few times so you know how to do it when the time comes, including issuing a refund or cancellation.

Square can setup an inventory, insert the tax amount for the sale, and generally read a CC on your phone or tablet. Obviously, you will need a smart device new enough to read a 'tap to pay' CC, or else you will need a separate reader. Androids and iPhones will usually work, and most of these apps will function similarly, so read up on them.

There are other ways to send people money, like Zelle, VenMo and PayPal. Those aren’t PoS systems, but they are ways to pay or get paid, without handling cash. And don’t forget Apple Pay and Google Pay. A list of these types of money transfer methods is HERE. 
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