credit cards in the bush ??

[Darren Henry]

I should maybe be on the business board---but this is a very GENERAL I.T. question. What are the options for dealing with credit cards (possibly debit) while you are in the field?

Here's the background: We are going to be setting up a booth at Dauphin's "Country fest" at the end of the month.It's like Woodstock with a twang; a quarter section + of humanity,3 stages, out in the prairie. Hydro is not an problem (we sell generators), the boss has a smart phone,we have access to a couple of laptops.

Our current system when we do trade shows etc...is to hand write the bills (just like at the shop  ::)) and then phone back to the shop and have someone process the deposit or point of sale purchase on the machine.The rub here is that we will be left thin on the ground at the shop with that many of us up there, and the hours don't overlap. Shop is 8-6 m-f/9-5 on sat., the booth is 11-11 thurs-sun.We did Dauphin's trade show a couple of months back and had two "hiccups". Fortunately they both occurred during office hours and we were able to rectify the problem before the customer left the rink.[That's were we do these up here  ;)] but there must be a better way.

Can anyone suggest what questions I should ask when I go down to the bank to research this? [the boss is computer impaired/head shy, so I'm taking the initiative]

Thanks all.

[sofadoc]

We've talked recently about this little gadget:
https://www.paypal.com/webapps/mpp/paypal-payments-standard

It just plugs into the top of an I-phone. It looks like the rates are around 2.75-2.9% + .30 per transaction. No other monthly fees.

[Mike]

Members here recomended swuare and ive started using it.  Its sasy can swipe a card with your phone or manilualy enter the number if its a call order

[Mojo]

I just used Square at the two rallys I did. Very easy and quick. It is a little tiny scanner that plugs into your cell phone and the card gets swiped through this.

I am going to be switching though to Paypal as a friend of mine who used square had an issue with a charge and it took 180 days to get the problem straightened out for his customer. He siad it was nearly impossible to get a live person on the phone.

So I am switching to Paypal which is basically identical to square. Most vendors now days who run remote booths at events are now using either the Paypal swiper or the square swiper.

Chris

[Darren Henry]

Thanks for the replies,so far.I can't see him opening a pay pal account "too much hassle---the old way works just fine----".

I might be able to sell him on square though.How does this work?Does the card reader communicate with our machine at the shop?Or does it communicate directly with who ever is at the other end of our machine?Where does the money go? Is it deposited directly to our existing bank account,or do we then have to transfer the money from somewhere else like the pay pal system?Finally (at least for know LOL) , is this something one leases/rents from a financial institution,or something purchased at your local office supply or computer retailer?

Thanks for all the patient help folks; I still swat the right side of my TV thingy to start a news line of type LOL.

[Mojo]

The Square is a seperate account that you set up. You attach whatever bank account you want to it.
The swipe fee is the same as your current swipe fee through your bank. But there are no monthly charges for the service.

It is about half the size of a Zippo lighter and plugs right into the headphone jack of your cell phone. You swipe the card and the money goes into your Square account. Typically within a day or so the money is transfered to your bank account.

It is currently the hot ticket and everyone of the vendors I was at the rally with was using them ( except one who uses a paypal swiper ).

Hope this explains it a bit better brother Darren.

Chris

[west coast]

Payfirma has an app for the phones I don`t use it but supposedly works fine.