How to accept credit card payments without a card reader

It’s no secret that a physical card reader is no longer needed to accept credit card payments. You likely purchase things online regularly with no card reader in sight. But if you’re reading this, you’re probably looking for a way for your business to ditch the expensive card readers. Lucky for you, there are a number of ways to get around it—even if you do business in-person.

Here are some simple ways to get paid, without buying a card reader.

1. Use your smartphone to accept payments

You’re about to see more and more businesses like retail, home services, and health & wellness using their smartphones to accept credit card payments. Tap to Pay on iPhone and Tap to Pay on Android have entered the payments industry, and with that, there is no need for a card reader to accept in-person payments. Credit card transactions can now be processed with only your smartphone.

Tap to Pay on iPhone

Apple’s Tap to Pay on iPhone feature transforms your iPhone into a card reader—no need to buy a single piece of extra equipment. You simply pull up the transaction on your iPhone, your customer taps their credit card, debit card, or digital wallet against your phone, then you get paid.

Tap to Pay on Android

Android has released their own (cleverly named) version as well: Tap to Pay on Android. It’s their way to turn your Android phone into a card reader with no extra equipment required. Just like Apple’s version, the customer taps their payment card or digital wallet on your phone and you get paid.

2. Accept credit cards with a virtual terminal

A virtual terminal is a digital credit card terminal that lives on the internet, or inside of an app. You access it using any internet-connected computer or mobile device and it completely eliminates the need for a physical card reader.

Although it can be used on your smartphone and may sound similar to the above Tap to Solutions, it is an entirely different payment method. Virtual terminal payment processing doesn’t enable your device to read a credit card. It simply lets you key-in the card details manually, then process the payment. It also expands beyond just credit and debit card payments, allowing you to process ACH payments as well.

Most businesses will use a Virtual terminal for taking payments over the phone. Your client can call in and provide their credit card details, while you type them into the terminal, taking the payment right then and there. But it's not limited to over the phone payments. Some businesses will use it as a backup for in-person payments when their card reader goes down. It’s also an excellent option if you just don’t want to spend the extra cash on a physical card reader and don’t mind manually typing in credit card numbers. It’s even a convenient option for on-the-go businesses so you don't have to carry extra equipment. You can use your computer or mobile device that you already brought with you.

3. Add a payment page to your website

Payment pages, often referred to as “payment links,” are the easiest way to add credit card payment functionality to your website. A payment page is a pre-built webpage (don’t worry, you don’t have to code anything) with a portal for clients to enter their payment details. It makes it simple to add it as a page to your website for customers to self-serve, or even copy-paste the link in an invoice to your client.

One special feature of a payment page is its flexibility to take the kind of payments your business needs. Some use cases include:

• Customer registration - Collect payment details ahead of a class or event
• Invoice payment - Give clients a self-serve way to pay their invoice
• Donations - Let donors choose the amount they want to donate
• Subscriptions - Sign up customers to a recurring service
• Product purchase - Sell a specific product from your website

4. Send an online invoice

If you run a small business, you probably know what an invoice is, so I won’t bother explaining it to you. But if you’re still handing out paper invoices, using excel for your templates, and billing your clients through a card reader, it may be time to upgrade.

Modern invoicing tools let you customize and send a digital invoice via email or text message, and have a “Pay Now” button for the client to pay the bill online. The “Pay Now” button takes them to a payment page (as discussed in the previous section) where they can enter their credit card information and pay the invoice.

With an online invoice, you don’t need a card reader. You don’t need your clients to phone in with their payment details. You simply create the invoice, send it digitally, and have them pay from the comfort of their home.

Ready to accept credit card payments without a card reader?

If any of those payment methods sounded like they’d take your business’ payments game to the next level, you’ll want to sign up for Helcim. We’re one platform with all of the tools you need to accept credit card payments without a card reader. No monthly fees. No contracts. Just simple and affordable payments.