Square is a first-pick payment processor for all sorts of businesses – local shops, restaurants, artists, creators, contractors, and professionals as well. Square has a set of software solutions, inclusive of niche Point of Sales (POS) systems, approaching a large variety of business demands, especially easy and transparent pricing. Alongside this service, Square also provides reasonable hardware, pay & go pricing model, and a lot of third-party integrations to assist payment processing.
But Square isn’t fit for everybody, there are lots of reasons why merchants don’t opt for Square. For instance, Square does not render the best price. Square drove away a lot of merchants with its September 2019 price difference when the longstanding 2.75% credit card processing fee became 2.6% + $0.10 for all merchants. This new fee change favored merchants that had bigger ticket sizes (approximately $67+), while small-ticket merchants had to pay nearly the double price of their old prices and credit card processing fee.
While Square may be a suitable fit for many entrepreneurs, there are also many reasons to go and search for alternatives. For instance, Square cannot provide-
- A more economical credit card processing
- Forward point of sale features
- Greater account stability
- Better customer support
or something else some merchant may need, which makes it a less likely match. There are plenty of other better, more accessible, and cheaper POS apps in the market that any business can use to take payments on mobile devices.
Before diving into the exploration of your options, you may want to identify your requirements per your business.
- Do you need a more steady account provider?
- Do you process enough card transactions to profit from high-volume savings?
- Are you in for the long haul?
- Does this Square alternative have all the features you need?
- Is the cost of any add-ons justifiable?
These questions above certainly do not cover all of your demands, and that is why we have brought you a permanent, go-to solution, illustrating the top alternative to Square. We have prepared this result based on various perspectives such as advantages, disadvantages, distinct features, pricing, accessibility, etc.
Payline Data
Payline Data is a merchant account provider headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. In business since 2009 and it has several promising features that certainly distinguish it from several average providers in the industry. Payline has a series of excellent core products that cover the whole perspective of transaction in terms of your business.
Let us take a deeper look at their products and services-
Interchange-plus pricing for all merchants
- The pricing model consists of interchange which is the percentage of the transaction that must be paid to both the issuing bank and the credit card association (because the processor is bound to pay this charge, it’ll pass it on to the merchant.) and the plus is the amount over and above the interchange costs that shall be paid to the processor. It’s the markup for processing a transaction, and it’s designed to cover the costs of doing business and also to produce a profit. Payline Data currently charges interchange + 0.20% + $0.10 per transaction for a retail transaction. For example, one owns a retail store and has a merchant account with Payline. A buyer comes in and purchases an item for $100.00 (including tax). She pays with a Mastercard Consumer credit card. The interchange cost is 1.580% + $0.10, or $1.68. Payline passes this cost to you, plus they charge a markup of 0.20% + $0.10, or $0.30. Your total cost for taking the credit card is $1.98, or 1.98%.
- Payline offers the latest retail and e-commerce packages, comprising assistance for EMV and NFC-based payments for retail businesses. Their pricing plan is unique and favorable for it proposes new or low-volume businesses a full merchant account with interchange-plus pricing.
Credit Card Terminals
- Payline Data is happy to offer Clover POS and hardware for merchants. Choose between the Clover Station, Mini, Go, and Flex. Payline has other options as well if one already has a system and just wants a terminal. That list includes Ingenico, VeriFone, and others. Simply ask your sales rep what is the best option.
Virtual Terminal/Gateway
Payline Data extends its exclusive Payline Gateway, a fully-equipped payment gateway for processing online transactions. The gateway includes a diversity of specialties, like recurring billing, electronic invoicing, and a customer information vault to save customers’ payment method data. There are no distinct gateway prices or per-transaction charges for this product.
- The company’s virtual terminal allows accepting card-not-present payments from any internet-connected computer. The terminal software can process card-present transactions as well when linked with a USB-connected card reader, in some cases eradicating the requirement for a credit card terminal. It can file customer data, place recurring billing, receive ACH payments, observe customized reporting, invoices, and have straight access to support.
- Proposing the Clover POS and its hardware, Payline Data also can combine its processing system with an existing POS setup, but the processor will be changed on the back end. One can easily compare compatibility by booking a consultation call through the website.
- For customers preferring to use their smartphone or tablet as a mobile credit card terminal, Payline advises their Cardpointe mobile POS system. It’s convenient for both iOS and Android and serves well with smartphones and tablets. Businesses can also arrange for the Clover Go mobile app and card reader.
- The websites of virtual business owners can join forces with any of Payline’s third-party shopping cart associates.
- Payline Data also sustains e-check (ACH) payments, a useful option to add to an account, giving the customers an extra payment method to pick from and saving capital in processing charges.
Miscellaneous Items
- Month-to-month billing with no absolute long-term contracts and no early termination fee (ETF).
- Standardized (and fully disclosed) pricing plans revolving around the types of transactions a business likes to make.
- Outstanding and thorough customer service and support.
- The website has an intuitive User Interface (UI) and a well-structured knowledge base, which not only helps in locating the services easily but also facilitates you throughout the process.
- Payline Data has a crystal standing for genuine and reliable sales methods, making it a go-to alternative for all sorts of transactions. The regulated pricing packages drop most of the negotiating over rates and also provide a plan that’s most suitable for a particular business.
Conclusion
Does Payline Data has answered all your queries and provided you with better, alternative results?
- Let us do a quick rundown of all its prominent features:
- Interchange-plus pricing? Yes.
- Month-to-month billing? Yes.
- Early termination fee? No.
- Gateway fee? No.
- Efficient equipment with better performance and latest updates? Yes.
- Facilitating high-risk Businesses? Yes.
- Safe and secure transactions? Yes.
These features speak well for Payline Data and set it apart from the majority of merchant account providers. A reliable sales unit and helpful customer support make it top-notch. Overall, it is safe to say that Payline Data is a good alternative to Square.
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