All About Accepting Credit Cards with Your IPad
The IPad tablet is consistently ranked as a consumer favorite due to its easy-to-use interface and popular apps. The possibilities of what you can do with an IPad are endless. There are thousands of apps available for use on a daily basis to customize and personalize each IPad to your specific preference and Accepting Credit Cards with Your IPad can be as easy as downloading a simple application.
As a business owner, your IPad can be used to process credit cards, manage and communicate with customers and manage employees for your retail business. Using the IPad as a credit card processing system is a benefit to your business as it is extremely versatile. It can be a stationary fixture in your brick and mortar retail store. Or it can move with you, processing credit cards at different events such as trade-shows or outside venues.
What to Know Before Accepting Credit Cards with Your IPad
Before you start Accepting Credit Cards with Your IPad, there are a few things you might want to know about your IPAD system.
Is your IPad Updated with the Latest Software Version on the Market
In order to process credit cards, you will want to ensure that your IPad tablet has received the latest security update from Apple. The latest software updates are always posted here: support.apple.com. Being up to date is important as it closes known security holes that hackers can use to access secure information on your IPad.
Updates are usually only for systems that are still being supported by Apple. If you have tried to update your IPad and you receive an error message stating that the latest update is not supported, you will need to consider buying a newer version of your IPad. The version you currently have may not be the most secure choice to process credit cards for your retail business.
If you bought your IPad used, or it’s been in the hands of other users for a period of time, then you will especially want to make sure that your IPad is secure. Just because a system looks clean doesn’t mean that the previous user cannot access information on your IPad. We recommend that you do a quick internet search on how to check if your IPhone has been “jailbroken”. You will receive detailed instructions on how to secure your IPAD from previous owners.
Check All Apps for Latest Updated Software Versions
We recommend that you also make sure any app installed on your IPad has received the latest security update for that specific app.
We also recommend that you research each app installed on your IPad to see if there is any possible conflict that may occur when you install and run your credit card processing payment gateway software.
Do Not Use Your IPad to Store Credit Card Numbers
If you are considering processing credit cards through your IPad, we recommend that you install SecureGlobalPay’s payment gateway solution to process credit or debit cards. We can securely transfer credit card information from the customer’s card to the financial bank for approval. Storing credit cards on your IPad for processing at a later date is a bad idea and will most likely mean you are not PCI compliant. If your IPad processing solution is out of compliance, you will incur large fines with your financial institution until you are found to be in compliance.
How to Get Started Using my IPad to Process Credit Cards
If you already have a merchant account through SecureGlobalPay, then contact a customer service representative today and we can help you through the process of accepting credit or debit cards through your IPad device. We will help you install the secure payment gateway solution and we can also recommend additional apps to use to help your retail business succeed. We will also show you how to test transactions to make sure everything is set up correctly.
We can also help you procure any extra accessories that you might need when you process credit cards through your IPad such as: cash drawers, printers, batteries and water resistant protection covers for your IPad.
Benefits of Using an IPad for Retail Store Processing
Many of our retail customers with brick and mortar stores use IPad for retail processing. There are many positive benefits including:
The IPad tablet is mobile and you can process credit cards in any part of your store The IPad can manage inventory
You can manage time sheets for employees with IPad apps
Accepting Credit Cards with Your IPad is very affordable
You can customize your IPad with a variety of apps that will work for your retail business
You will receive detailed reporting of transactions
Other IPAD apps that Make IPad Payment Processing Worth It
There are many reasons Accepting Credit Cards with Your IPad is beneficial including all of the cools apps that make your Tablet a complete management system for your retail business. Some of the apps that we recommend include:
Deputy link: itunes.apple.com
This app is an all in one when it comes to managing your employees. The Deputy app comes with the ability to make employee schedules and can even connect to your employee’s calendar so that it automatically lists when an employee is scheduled to work. Employees will also be able to swap shifts with each other via the app and it will automatically update changes to the calendar.
Employees can also clock in and out using facial recognition software. You no longer have to worry about employees asking others to clock in and out for them. You will also be able to leave task notes for individual employees to complete during their shift.
Retail Calculator (link: itunes.apple.com/retail-calculators)
This app is powerful in helping you to understand the real cost of your product so that you can efficiently price your merchandise. The Retail Calculator comes with a free version that allows you to calculate the
Contribution Margin
Loan Payment
Inventory Turnover (Stock Turn)
Markup
Weight of Liquids
DCF Valuation
Shift Hours
RetailNext (link: apps.apple.com/retail-next)
This app gives you detailed reporting and allows you to monitor the traffic in your store via heat maps. You can see which areas of your retail store receives a lot of attention by measuring traffic in your store over a period of time.
SecureGlobalPay has helped many of our customers set up an IPad solution that works best with their retail business. Please call us today to get started!
