The three most common types of readers are magnetic stripe readers, EMV chip readers and NFC readers. There are a few different types of credit card readers available, so you’ll need to choose the one that’s best for your business. Once you’ve set up your account and linked your reader, you’ll be able to start taking payments from customers. Most readers will also come with a companion app that you’ll need to download to process payments. The reader is connected to your Android device, typically through the headphone jack, and allows you to process payments using your chosen payment processor. Altogether, these criteria make up 30% of the total score.Ī credit card reader is a device that allows you to accept credit card payments from customers. Specifically, we focused on popularity, value for the price, ease of use and any stand-out features. Expert analysisīased on our market research, our panel of experts turned to popular third-party review sites to gauge actual users’ reactions to and opinions of these card readers. We weighted features at 35% of our total score. These features included offering options for both retail and restaurant POS, offering inventory management and built-in payment processing, taking mobile payments and having access to third-party software integrations. Featuresįor mobile credit card readers, we expected them to provide certain features, so those that included them as part of their base plan fared the best in our ratings. Pricing and fees accounted for 35% of our weighted scoring. This not only included the monthly pricing but the processing fees, such as for card-present and card-not-present transactions, and how the provider compared to others on the list. We also looked at the pricing plans available in terms of their affordability. Pricingįor pricing, we considered whether a mobile POS provider offered an initial card reader for free or at a deep discount. We then scored these contenders across several categories of features using 12 different metrics that were weighted to favor features that small business owners find valuable in an Android card reader.

We also considered whether the reader could be used with a variety of Android devices and whether it offered any special features that would be beneficial for businesses.

Forbes Advisor chose the best credit card readers for Android based on several factors, including price, features, durability and ease of use.

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