There are actually 38 iPhone credit card processing apps on the App store today.  How do you decide which one to use?  Well that depends on a couple of things.  The majority of the iPhone credit card processing apps (the free ones) on the app store work exclusively with their own merchant services company (or one they are partnered with).   So if you have an existing merchant account with a provider you know and trust, most of these apps are not for you.

If you don’t have an existing merchant account with a direct Visa/MasterCard processor, you can check out the free applications but at your own risk.  These companies all have different rates, contracts and monthly minimum requirements.   My suggestion to you is to choose an iPhone credit card processing app that has the flexibility to sync with any merchant services provider.  If you ever become unhappy and decide to switch service providers, you can still use the same application without any additional costs or hassle to learn a new user interface.

The next thing you’ll want to consider is whether or not you want the capability to “swipe” (vs. key-in)  your transactions and if your processing volume will be high enough for it to be worth the initial investment of the hardware.  When you “swipe” your transaction, you will generally pay about half a percent less than if you manually “key-in” your transactions.   So if you’re processing $10,000 per month, you’ll pay about $50 more per month than if you were to swipe.   The hardware you’ll need will cost you between $75 – $150 and some companies (like Verifone) will also charge about $10/mo and $0.10 per transaction in addition to whatever your merchant services provider is charging you.  You can do the math to make your own decision.

The app that’s been getting the most attention is the Square, which was developed by the creator of Twitter.  Production of this application and hardware combo has been indefinitely delayed because they are still “finalizing their underwriting paperwork” as stated in a letter from Jack Dorsey himself.  Nobody is sure of what that really means.  An article from AmericanBanker.com was published today stating that Square will be “willing to talk to merchant services sales agents and other distributors, but just not yet.”

This sounds like they are having trouble launching a PayPal style ewallet and considering to work with independent merchant service providers to make this work.  If this is the case, The pricing of the Square and the services will change.  I will let you know more about this when we hear some news from Square.

My top three countdown (not including the Square) is based on the flexibility, functionality and cost.  Here you go!

Top 3 iPhone Credit Card Processing Apps:

#3: ProcessAway iPhone Application

This application is very easy to use and and can be set up in minutes to sync with any merchant service provider.

App Price: $29.99

Hardware Costs: n/a

Transaction Type Supported: Keyed-In

Key Features:

-Digital Signature Capture attached to Email Receipts

-Automatic Reoccurring Billing Capabilities

-Customer/Order/Shipping Information Tracking

-Add Tip/Gratuity

-AVS (Address Verification Service)

-Records GPS Location of Sale

- Supported Bluetooth Printer to print physical receipts (Retail Price: $289.00)

Additional Costs:

There are no additional monthly charges or costs per transaction from ProcessAway. There may be additional costs incurred from your gateway provider depending on the company you are working with.

Here is a quick demo of the ProcessAway iPhone credit card processing app:

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#2: iPay POS iPhone Application (w/ swipe capability via iMag )

This application can be downloaded for free on the Apple App Store for you to sync up with any merchant service provider. Your first 10 transactions for free and then you will pay $0.10 per transaction moving forward or you can just pay $29.99 for unlimited transactions.  This is a great option if you are looking to test out the user interface before the purchase.  It also syncs with the iMag Card Reader to accept “swiped” transaction.  iMag costs only $75 and does not have any additional service fees.

App Price: FREE

Hardware Costs: n/a

Transaction Type Supported: Keyed-In, Swipe

Key Features:

-Supports iMag Card Reader for “swipe” capability

-Digital Signature Capture attached to Email Receipts

-Automatic Reoccurring Billing Capabilities

-Customer/Order/Shipping Information Tracking

-Tip/Tax

-AVS (Address Verification Service)

-Records GPS Location of Sale

- Supported Bluetooth Printer to print physical receipts (Retail Price: $289.00)

Additional Costs:

There are no additional monthly charges or costs per transaction from iPay POS. There may be additional costs incurred from your gateway provider depending on the company you are working with.

Here is a quick video demo of iPay POS with the iMag Card Reader:

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#1: SWIPE iPhone Application

This application is clean, easy to use and super easy to set up.  App Ninjas, the developers of this app have a business model to acquire new merchant accounts like all of the free apps you’ll find on the app store but they also allow third party merchant service providers to sync as well.  The user interface is really nice and the digital signature quality is the best I’ve seen yet (see video).  Considering the low cost, easy-to-use user interface, customizable email receipts and flexibility to sync to any service provider,  Swipe takes  the cake as my #1 recommended app to process credit cards on your iPhone.

App Price: $0.99

Hardware Costs: n/a

Transaction Type Supported: Keyed-In, Swipe (coming soon)

Key Features:

-Digital Signature Capture attached to Email Receipts

-Customizable Email Receipts

-Customer/Order/Shipping Information Tracking

-Add Tip/Gratuity

-AVS (Address Verification Service)

-Records GPS Location of Sale

Additional Costs:

There are no additional monthly charges or costs per transaction from Swipe. There may be additional costs incurred from your gateway provider depending on the company you are working with.

Here is a quick demo of the Swipe iPhone credit card processing app:

Please give me your feedback or comments below!   I hope this was helpful for you!

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Tags | best iPhone credit card processing app, iPhone credit card processing, Merchant Services, mobile credit card processing