Buy now pay later, or BNPL, is a credit solution that enables customers to pay for products and services in several installments over a fixed schedule. In other words, customers can spread out the expenses rather than paying the full price at the time of purchase.

Besides, BNPL loans require no hard check on credit history and charge no or low interest, making them more attractive to customers who regularly buy on credit. For example, if you want to buy a new TV that costs $1,000, you can pay four installments of $250 over 6 weeks rather than the entire amount.

Compared to other financing methods, BNPL is more rapid and convenient. It allows customers to access funding and receive items instantly. Given its wide adoption among customers, plenty of eCommerce retailers have incorporated buy now pay later into their checkout process to give shoppers multiple payment options, thereby boosting conversion rates and sales.

Many retail giants such as Adidas, MAC Cosmetics, Bloomingdale’s, Walmart, Target, and Nordstrom adopt buy now pay later. The list keeps adding up, indicating the growing popularity of this financing solution.

Buy now pay later divides purchases into manageable amounts that consumers can pay off over time. We explain how it works below.

• Customers shop online, add items to the cart, and reach the checkout, where retailers display BNPL and other payment methods. Shoppers can also access the service provider’s apps to look for credit shopping websites and make purchases.
• After customers choose a BNPL service provider to pay for their items, they’re redirected to the provider’s app to register for an account or sign in.
• Customers provide personal information, including name, address, and social security number. With this data, the BNPL lender might conduct a soft credit check to evaluate customers’ creditworthiness, which normally doesn’t impact their credit scores.
• Customers accept or decline the terms of repayment plans for their purchases, which are often bi-weekly or monthly payment options. Subsequently, customers make down payments if required and complete the purchase.
• The BNPL provider pays the total transaction value to businesses after deducting some fees. After that, customers will pay off the remaining installments directly to the provider over an agreed schedule using credit cards, debit cards, or bank accounts. Some lenders charge late fees if customers don’t make payments on time.

BNPL is advantageous to both retailers and customers; however, it also comes with certain downsides. The information below clarifies the advantages and disadvantages of BNPL.

BNPL plans of PayPal

The buy now pay later options are diverse, so customers can choose the best plan for their installment payment shopping. In general, there are some key choices as follows.

Buy now pay later no credit check

Some BNPL providers don’t check your credit reports before approving the installment plans. These services give buy now pay later instant approval based on other factors like income, employment status, or current loans rather than credit scores. Customers only need to provide personal information like name and bank details, and the lenders will quickly assess their loan eligibility. For example, Splitit and Fingerhut are the two platforms that offer shoppers buy now pay later no credit check instant approval.

Buy now pay later no upfront payment (Buy now pay later no down payment)

There are BNPL programs that don’t demand an upfront payment. With these plans, customers don’t need to pay part of the purchase or total amount at the point of sale to get their products. For instance, AppToPay lets customers pay for their purchases in 3 installments with no upfront payment required.

Buy now pay later interest free

Many BNPL services are interest-free if customers pay in 3 or 4 installments over a short term, typically from 6 weeks to 3 months. Afterpay is one of many BNPL providers that enable customers to pay 4 zero-interest installments over 6 weeks.

Buy now pay later monthly

Customers can buy items and pay monthly for big-ticket purchases or large orders. Monthly repayment plans often come with high interest rates and longer terms. For example, PayPal allows customers to make monthly payments if they purchase from $199 to $10,000. Customers can pay back the entire cost over 6, 12, or 24 months with the annual percentage rate (APR) ranging from 9.99 to 35.99%.

Buy now pay later cash advance

A cash advance is a type of short-term loan that customers often use for emergencies. Customers can borrow from $50 to $1,000 from cash advance apps and pay off within hours or days. There are usually no credit checks and interest charges. For example, customers can ask for $500 from MoneyLion and repay the amount within 1 to 5 business days.

Buy now pay later in-store

Many businesses facilitate BNPL in-store to improve customers’ checkout experience and increase sales. Most BNPL lenders like Zip and Afterpay enable shoppers to create QR codes or offer them one-time buy now pay later virtual cards to add to their digital wallets for in-store purchases.

Buy now pay later online store

The majority of BNPL transactions occur at online stores. After adding favorite items to the cart, online shoppers can opt for their preferred services at the checkout page. PayPal, Afterpay, and Affirm are the BNPL platforms that assist online shopping on credit.

Buy now pay later with debit cards

Depending on the service provider, customers can make BNPL payments using debit cards, credit cards, or bank accounts. Apple Pay Later, Affirm, and many other buy now pay later apps accept repayments with debit cards.

Buy now pay later catalogs with instant approval and no money down

With this option, customers don’t have to go through a hard credit check and make a down payment for their purchases. Many BNPL lenders like AppToPay and PayPal perform buy now pay later catalogs with no down payment no credit checks to attract more customers.

BNPL is not an ideal option in all circumstances. Therefore, retailers can consider other options for BNPL as below.

• Credit cards: The major difference between buy now pay later vs credit cards is that credit card issuers often run a hard credit check to assess customers’ eligibility. Credit card companies also report payments to credit agencies, which can primarily affect customers’ credit scores. However, customers can receive rewards, cash back, or annual membership.
• Personal loans: Customers can flexibly utilize personal loans for different purposes, from paying bills to starting a business. Personal loans offer quick funding with fixed or variable interest and repayment terms ranging from a few months to several years.
• Layaway: Layaway plans also allow shoppers to spread out the payments over time. Nevertheless, customers can only get the items they purchase once they pay the total price.
• Split payments: This BNPL alternative permits customers to pay for a single purchase using a combination of payment methods like cash, credit cards, and gift cards. Split payments can help businesses foster sales, but they also generate higher transaction fees.

First, you should thoroughly analyze your business, including products, typical customers, average order values, and abandonment cart rates. These analyses help determine the most relevant and potential payment plans for your customers. On that basis, you can choose an appropriate BNPL partner that suits your customers’ needs and register for an account.

Then, you need to add BNPL to your stores. The popular way to activate BNPL options for online and offline stores is through payment processors like Stripe or PayPal. As a result, BNPL services should integrate with your existing POS and payment system to let customers buy with installments. Your POS should also connect smoothly with multiple 3rd-party payment service providers to process payment types like digital wallets or split payments to enable buy now pay later methods.

For example, Magestore POS with POS for Magento and POS for Shopify works seamlessly with multiple payment terminals to offer your customers various payment methods, including split payments.

You should also clearly communicate the availability and benefits of BNPL to your customers both online and offline. To promote BNPLs, you can place banners on your site, put signage in your stores, or execute marketing campaigns.

Magestore point of sale supports both BNPL no down payment and with down payment. In the case of BNPL with down payment, customers can choose different payment methods such as cash, credit cards, or debit cards. Follow these steps to provide a smooth BNPL experience for your customers.

Enable the BNPL option on Magestore POS

If your Magestore POS doesn’t have the Pay Later option:

Step 1: Create Pay Later on Magestore POS:

Go to POS > Settings > Payment for POS > Add more payment

Step 2: Complete the following settings:

• Set Enabled to Yes
• Name the Title as Pay Later
• Set Pay Later to Yes so that the system will not create an invoice after checkout

Now, you can start providing the BNPL option for your customers.

If your Magestore POS already has the Pay Later option, proceed from Step 2.

Check out orders with BNPL on Magestore POS

When a customer adds products to the cart and requests BNPL, they can choose either to buy now and pay later with no down payment or to pay a part now and the rest later, depending on your buying policies.

Option 1: Customer buys now and pays later with no initial payment.

• The cashier selects Pay Later > Mark as Partial > Complete Order.
• The invoice will show the due amount the customer needs to pay later.
• In Order History, the order status will be Processing, Unpaid.

When the customer returns to the store to complete the payment, they can choose their preferred payment method. The order status will then change to Complete, Paid.

Option 2: Customer pays a portion of the order in advance with different payment methods and completes payment later.

• The cashier selects Pay Later and adds one or more payment options > Mark as Partial > Complete Order.
• The invoice will show both the unpaid and paid amounts with the payment method.
• In Order History, the order status will be Processing, Partially Paid.

When the customer comes back to pay the remaining balance, the payment will be completed, and the order status will change to Complete, Paid.

To choose the most suitable buy now, pay later services for your business, you should evaluate the following critical criteria.

• Integration capability: If you want to add buy now pay later to your checkout flow, choose an app that seamlessly integrates with your existing eCommerce and POS systems.
• Payment terms: BNPL repayment terms can span several weeks or years. While customers use short-term loans for small purchases, they need a longer payment plan for higher-value items. Therefore, your chosen BNPL lenders should offer different payment plans so your customers can opt for the one that suits their financial situations.
• Credit limits: Credit limits vary from provider to provider. If your customers’ purchases are lower or higher than the set limits, they might not qualify for the payment plans. Consequently, you’d better assess your business’ average order values and ensure that the provider lends your customers enough funds to cover their purchases.
• Geographic coverage: Before selecting a service provider, you should define where your target customers concentrate and what BNPL services are easily accessible or popular there. You can also partner with multiple providers simultaneously to serve more customers across locations.

Is buy now pay later similar to taking a loan?

Yes, BNPL is similar to taking a loan. BNPL lends customers money to fund their purchases and allows them to pay back installments over time. Unlike traditional loans, BNPL often charges no interest and lasts short terms.

Is it safe for customers to buy now pay later?

Yes, BNPL is safe to use. BNPL providers employ security technologies, including data encryption and multifactor identification, to protect your information.

How does BNPL affect my credit?

As BNPL services don’t report payments to the credit bureaus, whether you pay on time or miss the scheduled payment doesn’t impact your credit. However, if you repeatedly fail to pay back money when it’s due, debt collectors might report your account to credit agencies, which can lower your credit score.

How does a BNPL provider make money?

BNPL makes money from both businesses and shoppers. On one hand, financing companies charge businesses with initial setup and processing fees for each transaction. On the other hand, customers have to pay interest for longer repayment terms and late fees if they miss the payments.

Are there any fees associated with BNPL services?

Yes, there are. While businesses have to pay processing fees for each transaction, shoppers might incur late fees for missed payments.

Can I buy now pay later if I have bad credit?

Yes, you can apply for buy now pay later even if you don’t have good credit. As BNPL lenders only run soft credit checks, bad credit doesn’t affect the service provider’s approval.

Yes, Ingenico has a SoftPOS app that aims to help merchants accept payments on mobile devices.
Compare Ingenico terminals, SoftPOS, and POS software to see how they differ.

Ingenico payment terminals

POS terminals by Ingenico come in many types and designs, including portable devices, EMV readers, credit card swipers, and PIN pads, making them ideal payment solutions for different business use cases. Ingenico devices enable merchants, from quick-service restaurants to retail mobility, to process all payment methods like credit and debit cards, digital wallets, and QR codes. Moreover, many Ingenico terminals like Move 5000, Lane 7000, and Link 2500 can connect with other business apps or POS equipment to enhance functionality for greater efficiency.

Ingenico SoftPOS

The SoftPOS app of Ingenico turns your Android smartphones or tablets into a point of sale terminal. This POS supports seamless acquirer integration and lets you accept card and e-wallet payments without the need for additional hardware, thus reducing upfront investments. Therefore, Ingenico SoftPOS best suits small businesses on the move to flexibly handle payments at the customers’ convenience. You can also use the POS to check out your customers right in-store to cut down waiting times.

POS software

Apart from integrating with POS hardware like barcode scanners, terminals, and cash registers, receipt printers to process payments, POS software has abundant built-in functions to help you manage your entire business operations compared to Ingenico machines and SoftPOS.

POS apps make it much easier to manage inventory, sales, and employees across sales channels and physical stores. It also facilitates omnichannel order fulfillment and loyalty programs. In addition, POS software syncs and consolidates key data like products, orders, and customers across channels and locations for a unified view of your business situations.

The table below shows the main features of Ingenico payment terminals, SoftPOS, and complete POS software. Let’s take a look and see which one suits your business.

The Ingenico POS integration accepts and processes numerous payment methods safely and securely like tap to pay, QR-code payments, and buy now pay later, thus letting your customers freely choose the most convenient ways to pay. More than that, the combined power allows you to closely supervise your multi-channel business to achieve greater business efficiency and customer experience. The key benefits of Ingenico POS system integration are as follows.

• Manage multichannel and multi-location inventory, including inventory transfer, stocktaking, and purchase order management
• Sync critical business data like customers, inventory, and orders across your sales channels and physical stores
• Gather customers’ data like purchase history to build profiles and offer them omnichannel loyalty programs
• Monitor your employees’ working hours, sales performance, and more
• Give your customers diverse fulfillment options like click and collect, support returns, refunds, and exchanges

The best POS for Ingenico should possess the following features to easily integrate with Ingenico payment terminals and run your daily business operations efficiently.

POS compatibility

Ingenico provides payment terminals that need to be compatible with payment processors to accept card and mobile payments. To process in-store payments, your POS software must integrate with these payment processors. Therefore, integrating Ingenico terminals with your POS system means your POS software must be compatible with the payment processors used by Ingenico terminals. This integration helps you eliminate unwanted errors or conflicts during transactions. In addition, the POS should also connect well with other apps and software to add more features for business growth.

• Payment processors: Worldpay, Authorize.net, Square, PayPal, Stripe, etc.
• Marketplaces: Etsy, Amazon, eBay, etc.
• Accounting: QuickBooks, Xero, Sage, etc.
• CRM: Salesforce, Hubspot, Zoho, etc.
• ERP: NetSuite, Dynamics 365, SAP, etc.

Inventory management

As inventory is a core component of any business, your chosen Ingenico point of sale should undertake the following tasks to ease inventory management across channels and locations.

• Update stock levels across channels and locations
• Transfer stocks between locations
• Adjust inventory quantity
• Manage stocks with barcodes
• Create low-stock notifications
• Generate and manage purchase orders

Real-time data syncs

Syncing business metrics in real time between sales channels and physical stores ensures data accuracy and offers your customers a seamless omnichannel experience. Therefore, the POS Ingenico should keep the following data aligned.

• Sync orders
• Sync customers
• Sync products

Customer loyalty

Your preferred POS must be able to help you build and maintain long-lasting relationships with your customers by:

• Gather customers’ information like purchase history
• Create and sync customer profiles across channels
• Execute different loyalty programs like store credits, loyalty points, and gift cards

Reporting tools

The top POS integrated with Ingenico terminals should generate different kinds of real-time reports for in-depth insights about your business situations to make timely changes. Below are the most desirable reports the POS should have.

• Sales: Sales by specific timeframes, sales by products, locations, suppliers, etc.
• Employees: Working schedules, sales performance, tips and commissions
• Inventory: On-hand stocks, stock values, incoming stocks, etc.

1.Magestore POS: Best for omnichannel retailers of all sizes

Magestore Magento POS is the #1 SoftPOS alternative that gains the trust of thousands of merchants around the world. Most favor the POS as it can integrate with unlimited 3rd-party software, apps, and services, including Ingenico payment terminals, to handle payments without constraints.

The POS amazes many business owners with its rich functionality. Not only syncing business data like orders, inventory, and customers across channels instantly, the POS also allows you to better control your inventory flows between locations, including stock transfer, stocktaking, and purchase order management. Additionally, this Ingenico POS is capable of delivering an ultimate shopping experience to your customers by offering omnichannel order fulfillment options like store pickup and loyalty programs like reward points.

Shopify POS is another full-featured POS software for Shopify retailers from Magestore. Thanks to the extensive integration capability, the POS is easy to connect with payment processors in Ingenico payment terminals for transaction processing. The Ingenico POS system also helps simplify the checkout process with many powerful features like order holding, custom sales, and multiple carts. Additionally, Magestore’s Shopify POS supports refund handling, in-store pickup, loyalty programs, and employee management.

Key features

• Accept diverse payment types, including cash, credit, debit cards, contactless payments, reward points, gift cards, split payments, buy now pay later, etc.
• Check out in seconds with self-checkout services and a customer-facing display mode
• Process transactions without the Internet and sync the data to the Magento backend when the connection resumes
• Support store pickup, buy online ship to home, and other omnichannel order fulfillment options
• Enable exchanges, returns, and full or partial refunds by cash, credit cards, or a payment method mix
• Sync orders, customers, and products in real time
• Manage inventory for multiple sales channels and locations, including stock transfer, inventory adjustment, and purchase order management
• Offer omnichannel loyalty programs, particularly store credits, reward points, gift cards
• Supervise employee working hours, sales performance, and commissions
• Generate real-time reports on stock values, inventory on hand, sales by locations, brands, employees, suppliers, daily, and monthly sales, etc.
• Integrate with 3rd-party services, including marketplaces (Etsy, Amazon, eBay), payments (Square, Worldpay, Adyen, Stripe), accounting (QuickBooks, Sage, Xero), ERP (NetSuite, SAP, Dynamics 365), shipment (ShipStation, FedEx), CRM (Zoho, HubSpot, Salesforce)
• Work smoothly with POS hardware devices
• Easy to customize and scale for business expansion

Pricing

Magestore Magento POS Commerce charges one-time pricing. The total amount you need to pay depends on your business complexity, store number, and your expected support and service levels.
Magestore also offers a POS Simple version for their robust Magento POS Commerce which is only $65/ month.

Magestore Shopify POS pricing is subscription-based with 2 major plans. You can try using the POS within 30 days for free before purchasing.

• Lite plan: $15/ month for only 1 location
• Standard plan: $50/ month/ location

Pros and cons

2.Revel POS: Best for small retailers and restaurants

Besides connecting with Ingenico card readers or other terminals to accept various payment types, Revel POS has a bundle of features for both retailers and restaurants. The POS can help you track inventory levels in real time, create staff working schedules, and support self-service kiosks. Revel POS also has many functions catering to small and medium restaurants like menu and table management, tableside ordering, and more.

Highlight features

• Accept many payment methods, including credit cards, gift cards, QR code payments
• Manage sales, inventory, and customer data in a single place
• Deliver automatic stock alerts and create purchase orders
• Build and manage menus for different locations
• Let users handle refunds and exchanges
• Support tableside ordering, floor plan and table management, and digital menus
• Enable employee scheduling and track their working schedules with built-in timecards
• Support self-service kiosks, customer-facing displays, and kitchen display screens
• Integrate with Revel’s services or 3rd-party apps and software

Pricing

You need to contact Revel to get detailed pricing.

Pros and cons

3.Hike POS: Best for growing retailers

As a POS compatible with Ingenico, Hike POS connects easily with many Ingenico terminal models to process payments in store. The POS users can harness an array of useful features to manage their retailing, from bulk import of products and customer data to inventory tracking across stores. Plus, the POS offers a free inventory scanner app to turn iPads or Android devices into barcode scanners.

Key features

• Provide payment options like gift cards and contactless payments
• Run on PCs, iPads, and Macs and work normally during the Internet loss
• Sync products, orders, products, and inventory automatically across channels
• Manage multi-store inventory, including stock level updates and stocktakes
• Allow turning iPads, iPhones, and Android devices to barcode scanners with an inventory scanner app
• Let users refund customers using the original payment methods
• Enable users to import customer lists in bulk using CSV files
• Support customer-facing displays, custom sales, and order notes
• Integrate with external payment providers and card terminals like Ingenico, PayPal Here, and Tyro

Pricing

Hike POS charges fees based on where your business is and how many locations and registers you have. The following example clarifies the extra costs a business in the U.S. needs to pay for the POS if they increase the number of registers.

Pros and cons

4.Lightspeed Retail POS: Best for small and medium multi-channel retailers

Lightspeed Retail is an established Ingenico point of sale with a handful of functions to help you manage your omnichannel business operations. The POS assists you in monitoring inventory across locations and channels, including ordering new stocks right from the POS. Besides, it has many tools to let you centralize customer data, run loyalty programs, and sell your products across social media platforms and marketplaces.

Key features

• Accept payment types like credit cards, buy now pay later, and digital wallets
• Sync sales orders, customer data, and products across stores and channels
• Provide a B2B Catalog to update product information directly from suppliers
• Give users a built-in purchase order function to order inventory right from the POS
• Allow creating product variants and adjusting product prices in bulk
• Let customers execute loyalty programs like reward points across channels
• Deliver customizable reports on sales, products, etc.
• Integrate with 3rd-party services and hardware, including Ingenico terminals, ERP, accounting software, marketing tools

Pricing

The total costs of Lightspeed Retail POS depend on the regions where your business runs and the number of registers and locations you need. There are 4 pricing plans, each with different base plan fees and additional costs for extra locations and registers.

The below example demonstrates the price changes between 2 businesses in the U.S. with a similar number of locations but different register quantities.

Pros and cons

>> Compare: Magestore POS vs Lightspeed POS

5.RetailEdge POS: Best for multi-store retailers

RetailEdge boasts loads of impressive features dedicated to retailing. The POS lets users collect customers’ purchase history, track store credits and set time-based discount rules. You can also oversee inventory levels and transfer stocks between stores. What’s more, RetailEdge provides a mobile POS Ingenico that can integrate with certain Ingenico terminals to enable mobile credit card processing.

Key features

• Give many payment options, including EMV chip cards and Apple Pay
• Sync sales, inventory, customers, and loyalty data across locations
• Enable users to manage inventory for many locations via stock transfer
• Oversee inventory levels to automatically create purchase orders
• Assist store credits, gift cards, and time-based discounts
• Support layaways, split payments, and email receipts
• Provide a mobile POS that keeps working without the Internet
• Connect with POS equipment of different types
• Integrate with eCommerce platforms and 3rd-party payment processors

Pricing

RetailEdge POS starts at the one-time price of $495. You can buy additional workstations for $225 each and Island workstations for $450 each.
You can also choose one of the following plans for technical support.

• Bronze plan: Free
• Silver plan: $5/workstation/month
• Gold plan: $45/month/location

Pros and cons

To choose the best Ingenico POS system, you need to factor in its capability to work properly with Ingenico payment terminals. Checking this requirement beforehand is worthwhile as it removes unnecessary headaches and conflicts while running your business.

Then, your business objectives, sizes, verticals, and budgets also dictate which POS you should go with. A POS for Ingenico terminals with a list of appealing features gives you no help if it doesn’t suit your current business situations and requirements or creates financial burdens.

For example, a fast-growing retailer that sells both online and offline may prefer Magestore Magento POS, Lightspeed Retail, or Hike POS to manage their multi-channel retailing. Given that Lightspeed Retail and Hike POS charge high subscription fees, Magestore Magento POS presents an optimal choice as business owners have to pay once only for the complete solution.

Is Ingenico a payment processor?

No, Ingenico isn’t a payment processor. Ingenico is a merchant services technology company that provides POS terminals and value-added services like Estate Manager or payment analytics. Ingenico hardware and software can integrate with multiple payment processors and acquiring banks to process transactions.

Is a card machine a POS system?

No, card machines are part of a POS system. A complete POS system often includes POS software and other POS devices like monitors, barcode scanners, card readers, cash registers, receipt printers, etc.

How much does Ingenico cost?

Ingenico POS machine prices vary subject to models and resellers, ranging from $100 to $1,000. Oftentimes, you will buy your favorite Ingenico terminals from resellers rather than directly from the manufacturer.

A payment gateway allows online and in-store merchants to collect the customer’s payment information, encrypt it, and securely send it to the card processor for authorization.

During online checkout processes, the payment gateway acts as the online payment portal. Meanwhile, during in-person transactions, it includes card readers and POS terminals to accept card payments, i.e. credit cards and debit cards, and card-not-present (CNP) payments such as digital wallet, QR code, or Near Field Communication (NFC) payments.

Here’s how the payment gateway works:

• Collect payment information when customers tap their card or enter their card details at the online or in-person POS
• Encrypt the payment details
• Transfer the encrypted payment information to the payment processor for authorization
• Transmit the authorization response from the payment processor back to the business, notifying them if the transaction is successful

While there’s a wide range of options, the best payment gateway companies include:

If your business accepts credit cards or direct payments, especially online payments, you’ll need payment gateways to safeguard sensitive customer information during transactions.

If you need a budget-friendly payment gateway, you can consider the best online payment gateways for small businesses including Adyen, Stax, and Payment Depot. Please note that currently, there’s no free payment gateway on the market.

FYI, there are two types of payment gateways:

• Third-party payment gateways: These send customers to an external gateway during website checkout, meaning a customer submits their card information outside of the merchant’s website. Upon transaction completion, this type of gateway takes customers back to the merchant’s website.
• Integrated payment gateways or white-label payment gateways: These gateways are built into the merchant’s eCommerce platform, so customers submit their card information and process their transactions on the merchant’s website.

A payment processor allows merchants to accept and handle financial transactions via credit cards, debit cards, and bank accounts.
In the transaction flow, the payment processor acts as the middleman between the customer’s bank (the card issuer) and the merchant bank (the acquiring bank).

Specifically, payment processors:

• Receive transaction details from payment gateways and validate them
• Transfer transaction data to the acquirer
• Receive authorization responses and send them to payment gateways
• Settle authorized transactions
• Provide reports for payment reconciliation

The best payment processors include:

As a merchant, you should know specific cases where a payment processor is mandatory:

• Businesses of any size that accept electronic payments, credit or debit card transactions, e-wallets, and bank transfer
• Global businesses that accept international payments and need to simplify handling diverse currencies and multiple payment methods
• High-traffic businesses that want to secure large volumes of payments, automate tasks like authorization, reconciliation, and reporting, and minimize manual errors
• Omnichannel businesses that want to deliver a consistent and secure payment experience across all channels

Furthermore, you should also know whether to use a payment processor built into a POS system or a third-party payment processor.

If you prioritize convenience of an all-in-one solution and are willing to pay slightly higher transaction fees, you can utilize a built-in payment processor. In that case, make sure you understand the fee structure, hidden fees, and binding contracts.

On the other hand, if you want to ensure flexibility and cost-effective payment handling, you should opt for a third-party payment processor. Some POS systems, such as POS for Magento and POS for Shopify, offer a wide range of integration with popular payment processors like PayPal, Stripe, Square, Clover, etc.

Although a payment processor vs gateway may seem similar, they play different yet complementary roles in the transaction process.

On the one hand, a payment gateway is responsible for the collection, encryption, and verification of customer payment information. This is especially important during electronic payments because online payment fraud reached $41 billion in 2022 and is forecast to double between 2023 and 2027. An Internet payment gateway helps merchants verify mobile payment, debit card, and credit card information while completing digital transactions.

On the other hand, payment processors take charge of payment data validation and transmission, and fund settlement. They also offer additional services like fraud detection and prevention, chargeback management, and reconciliation reporting. Without them, merchants can’t request and receive payment from the customer’s account.

The table below summarizes key distinctions between a payment gateway vs payment processor.

Payment processors vs payment gateways have different functions in the payment processing flow. The two components work together to facilitate smooth communication and safe data transfer between merchants, customers, and banks.

Here’s how a payment gateway vs processor collaborates during a transaction:

• First, the customer starts a transaction by giving the business their payment information.
• Second, the payment gateway receives the transaction information from the checkout page, encrypts it, and sends it to the payment processor.
• The payment processor then forwards it to the card issuing bank (the customer bank) to request payment authorization for the transaction.
• The issuing bank verifies the payment details, checks for available funds, and then either approves or declines the transaction. After that, it transmits this approval or decline message to the payment processor.
• Next, the payment processor shares the authorization response from the issuing bank to the payment gateway.
• The payment gateway sends the response back to the business, which displays the “transaction approved” or “transaction declined” message to the customer.
• If the transaction is approved, the payment processor coordinates the fund transfer from the customer bank to the business bank account. This process, called payment settlement, typically takes a few business days to complete.
• Finally, the payment processor provides reports for the business to reconcile transactions.

The collaboration of the payment gateway and payment processor helps businesses handle sensitive payment information securely and efficiently. The two components working together also ensure that the payment process adheres to information security protocols such as PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard).

Related post:

How retailers can process payments in-store

Your business type and offered payment options will determine if you need a payment gateway, a payment processor, or both.

If you have an omnichannel business or global operations, you should invest in payment processing platforms for smooth, secure, and consistent transactions across channels and currencies. Moreover, when you process a high volume of transactions every day, you’ll need a payment processor to minimize errors and automatically generate reports for reconciliation.

If you have online stores, process phone or mail orders, offer subscription services, or don’t have a complete POS system, you’ll need a payment gateway to securely process payments and manage recurring charges.

Note that a payment gateway needs to work with a payment processor. Many payment processing companies, such as Adyen, PayPal, and Stripe, offer end-to-end card processing services including both the payment gateway and payment processor. For brick-and-mortar businesses, your payment gateway might be built into your POS hardware.

If you process eCommerce transactions or accept card payments without a full POS system, you’ll need both online payment processors vs payment gateways to ensure secure and efficient transactions.

No, payment gateways vs payment processors are distinct components of the transaction process. Payment gateways step in first to encrypt and transfer payment information to the payment processor. Payment processors then verify the card information and facilitate the fund transfer.

However, some payment service providers offer end-to-end payment solutions, including both a secure payment processor and a payment gateway under one brand name, such as Adyen, Stripe, and PayPal.

Some of them are either a payment gateway or a payment processor while others are both. Let’s see the summary below.

Visa is neither a payment gateway nor a payment processor. It’s a card network that provides a communication system between issuing banks and businesses to process credit card transactions.

A POS consists of hardware, software, and payment services that help businesses accept payments and complete sales. POS systems can be physical devices in brick-and-mortar stores, or checkout points in online stores.

While point of sale processing includes logging purchased items, processing payments, and generating receipts, payment gateways receive payment information from the POS and send it to payment processors for verification. When processing an electronic trans

A payment gateway is a technology that allows merchants to securely transfer funds by collecting, encrypting, and verifying customer payment information.

A payment aggregator is a financial organization that consolidates multiple merchant accounts and payment gateways into a single setup. It allows merchants to eliminate the need for individual contracts with acquiring banks, thereby accepting payments more conveniently.

A payment facilitator (payfac) provides merchant services. It contracts with a merchant acquirer for payment acceptance on behalf of their merchants, also known as sub-merchants.

Payment processors allow merchants to start accepting payments and route transactions through banks and card networks. 

In the payment flow, the transaction data reaches the payment processor first and then travels to the merchant acquirer.

Specifically, a payment processor authorizes and securely transfers transaction data to the merchant acquirer.

A merchant acquirer (also an acquirer or acquiring bank) receives the payment information from the payment processor, authorizes the transaction with the issuing bank, and facilitates the settlement of funds. It also manages merchant accounts and allows merchants to process payments securely and quickly.

Purpose: Money transmitters serve individuals and businesses who want to send money overseas or to individuals without access to traditional banking services. On the other hand, payment processors serve a wide range of users, including online businesses, retailers, service providers, etc.

Regulation compliance: Payment processors adhere to PCI compliances to ensure security standards. Money transmitters have to comply with stricter and more extensive regulations due to higher risks of illegal activities.

Payment method: Money transmitters typically accept cash or bank transfers, while payment processors accept various payment options such as credit and debit cards, bank transfers, and e-wallets.

Transaction fee and limit: Money transmitters often have lower transaction limits, while payment processors offer lower transaction fees.

A payment gateway encrypts customer information and transmits it for authorization.

A payment processor receives transaction details from a payment gateway, authorizes, and processes transactions.

A merchant account holds funds from customer transactions for payment verification before transferring them to the business bank account.

The payment processor sends the transaction data to the acquiring bank, which transmits it to the card network.

The card network then directs the transaction to the issuing bank for authorization and relays the authorization response to the acquiring bank.

A merchant acquirer, or an acquiring bank, contracts with merchants to accept and process payments.

A payfac, short for payment facilitator, contracts with a merchant acquirer to accept payments on behalf of their merchants, also known as sub-merchants.

Yes, Authorize.net does have a POS system. In fact, it offers three solutions to cater to different retail and on-the-go transaction needs. These include Virtual POS (VPOS), posIPOS, and Mobile POS (MPOS). They vary in functionality and design to facilitate basic transaction processing.
Here’s a quick overview of the native Authorize.net point of sale solutions.

Authorize.net Virtual POS (VPOS)

Authorize.net VPOS is a free, web-based point of sale application that allows merchants to process payment from any computer with internet access. This virtual POS system transforms a PC into a versatile payment terminal but requires stable Internet connectivity to function effectively. It’s easy to set up, fast, and secure. However, the VPOS is not available in mobile app stores.

Authorize.net posIPOS

Businesses like restaurants, coffee shops, and bars might be more interested in posIPOS. This cloud-based iPad point of sale system is a more portable and affordable option. posIPOS processes payments with both EMV chip and magstripe credit cards through the Authorize.net payment gateway. Besides, you can use this POS to easily manage inventory or access sales data in real time from any browser.

Menu display on posIPOS screen

Authorize.net Mobile POS (MPOS)

Authorize.net Mobile POS is a mobile application that enables merchants to process transactions directly from any iOS, Android, or Google device. This Authorize.net app supports various payment methods, including credit cards and e-checks, making it versatile for retailers or small businesses. MPOS is particularly useful for mobile vendors or outdoor sales environments, offering the convenience of payment processing anywhere with a wireless carrier or Wi-Fi provider.

Authorize.net’s POS systems vs. popular standalone alternatives

The native POS solutions that Authorize.net provides can handle all the basic needs of a small business. They can facilitate popular payment methods, offer great POS hardware compatibility, and ensure security. However, the Authorize.net point of sale systems fail to compete in advanced features, such as employee management, multi-store support, or built-in CRM capabilities.
To demonstrate this, let’s put Authorize.net’s POS systems up against a common standalone POS software.

Integrating a standalone POS with the Authorize.net payment gateway is a strategic move that offers many benefits beyond basic transaction processing. It enhances the overall functionality and efficiency of your business, without compromising the security that Authorize.net provides.

Integrating a POS will allow you to leverage the full potential of Authorize.net!

Below are the 4 most notable benefits of Authorize.net POS integration:

• Enrich your retail system: Besides handling payments, standalone POS systems often come with other advanced functionalities. They streamline inventory management, customer relationship management, and employee tracking efforts.
• Enjoy scalable solutions: While Authorize.net’s default POS solutions may suffice for small businesses, they might not meet the needs of growing operations. Upgrading to a compatible and more powerful POS system can help businesses accommodate increasingly complex needs.
• Streamline store management: Comprehensive POS systems offer inventory management features that allow business owners to monitor stock levels in real time. They also track and report employee performance, ensuring operations run at peak efficiency. Furthermore, the detailed analytics generated by these POS systems can pinpoint areas for improvement.
• Provide seamless customer experience: Modern POS systems support various payment methods. This improves the shopping experience by making checkout faster and more efficient. Integrated loyalty programs also provide a better service to customers.

Let’s take a deep dive into our picks for the top 5 alternatives to Authorize.net POS systems.

1. Magestore POS

Magestore POS is a complete point of sale solution to bridge the gap between online and offline sales channels. It provides comprehensive tools for business owners to maximize the efficiency of their operations via inventory management, customer relationship management, and sales operations across multiple locations. The system’s real-time data sync ensures consistency in pricing, promotions, and customer service. Merchants can elevate store operations with their powerful POS for Magento and POS for Shopify.

Magestore POS is a complete solution for all businesses.

Key features

• Compatible with Authorize.net, Stripe, Tyro, PayPal, and more. You can connect with other 3rd-party pay service providers easily.
• Accept multiple payment methods such as cash, debit cards, credit cards, split payment, buy now pay later, reward points, etc.
• Complete checkout in seconds to reduce wait times
• Offer self-checkout services and customer-facing display mode for swift checkout
• Facilitate refunds, returns, and exchanges
• Track inventory across channels and locations. Access and transfer between storefronts and warehouses from a single dashboard
• Connect and sell across multiple channels and marketplaces. Provide omnichannel order fulfillment options like store pickup, buy online pay at store, etc.
• Enable omnichannel loyalty programs like reward points, store credits, and gift cards
• Sync all data across locations and sales channels in real time
• Provide live and accurate reports for data-driven decisions
• Operate both online and offline. Magestore Magento POS makes sure your business runs smoothly, whether with the Internet or not.
• Scale and customize features to match your unique needs

Pricing

Magestore offers different pricing plans for their POS solutions depending on your current eCommerce platform.

Magento POS Commerce pricing is a custom quote based on your needs, store number, support, and service levels. You only pay once for the POS license and own the solution and data forever.

Besides, Magestore also offers a simple version for Magento 2 POS, starting from $69/ month.

Magestore POS for Shopify comes in subscription pricing as below:

• Lite: $15/ month for 1 location only
• Standard: $50/ month/ location

Pros

• Easy to use with an intuitive interface
• Complete POS solution with powerful tools to manage businesses
• Scalable and customizable
• Highly secure and safe
• Dedicated customer support with fast response time throughout your project
• Unlimited users and devices
• No charges for solution implementation and transactions
• No monthly fees (Magento POS Commerce)
• No hidden costs

Cons

• Potential high upfront costs yet long-term money savings

2. Workstand

Workstand is a comprehensive point of sale system designed for bicycle shops and cycling businesses. Tailored to meet the unique needs of these industries, Workstand POS streamlines operations through efficient inventory management, service scheduling, and customer relationship management.

Workstand provides excellent tools for cycling and bicycle retailers.

Key features

• Compatible with Authorize.net as well as other payment gateways such as PayPal, WePay, and Klarna
• Accept major credit cards and digital wallets. Compatible with a handheld touch, tap, or swipe device
• Allow users to build a ready-to-sell product catalog, from bikes to small parts, upload, and manage product catalogs online across all locations. No maintenance is required.
• Connect and sell bicycles and bike parts between offline and digital stores
• Offer powerful CRM solutions to manage and increase customer engagement such as in-store and online promotion codes.
• Provide sales forecasts and inventory analytics to maximize stock control efficiency
• The Workstand ecosystem also connects store owners with the best and largest bike industry network. Cycling retailers can directly view current pricing from other suppliers, buy, and dropship items remotely. Workstand also offers services in marketing, performance tracking, and customer networking. Users can leverage built-in marketing tools, access business intelligence data, and connect with ready-to-buy shoppers, right from one dashboard.

Pricing

Workstand doesn’t offer their POS separately. It means you’ll have to pay for their software package. You can try Workstand’s basic Retail package that requires no subscription.
However, the platform does charge transaction fees processed through the external payment service provider Stripe for in-store and online processing.
Available plans are:

• Retail: $0/ month with a 0.5% platform fee
• Lite: $49/ month with a 0.4% platform fee
• Local: $359/ month with a 0.4% platform fee
• Professional: $649/ month with a 0.3% platform fee

Pros

• Powerful toolkit for bike shops and cycling retail businesses
• Expert customer support who knows what they’re saying
• Secure and reliable POS with no downtime in data processing
• Multiple marketing options to help grow the business
• Flexible in sales channels

Cons

• Only built for bike shops and cycling retail businesses
• Users must buy packages, with no standalone software option. The base package offers limited features.
• Can be expensive to operate

3. eQuatePOS

eQuatePOS helps enhance the efficiency and operational capabilities of businesses across various sectors. Its robust features include real-time inventory tracking, sales reporting, and customer management. eQuatePOS sets itself apart in the POS market through its flexibility and custom features such as multi-store management capabilities for a variety of retail environments. Thus, business owners can oversee and manage operations across several locations seamlessly.

Unfortunately, eQuatePOS is currently Android-exclusive.

Key features

• Connect to Authorize.net, PayPal, and other payment gateways. PCI Certified and use EMV Level I, II Contact, and Contactless readers
• Allow adding and moving stocks easily between stores. Sync adjustments on item prices. Automatically order new inventory for your store
• Create and manage recurring transactions on customer accounts. Set automatic billing for your customers
• Generate redeemable customer gift cards that users can claim for rewards
• Unify sales data in a dashboard, allowing you to run your multiple stores from one single location. You can run and export reports to CSV files easily.
• Track and log employee hours to complete the payroll process in seconds Record documents about employees, pay rate, start date, and other important information
• Create and assign tickets quickly to track external and internal issues

Pricing

• Starter Plan: $49/ month with 2 licensed terminals, online customer support
• Medium Plan: $99/ month with 5 licensed terminals, online and telephone customer support, unlimited stores, users, and products
• Large Plan: $199/ month with 15 licensed terminals, online and telephone customer support, unlimited stores, users, and products

Pros

• Comprehensive toolkits with stacked features
• Easy access and management from anywhere
• Automatic inventory management

Cons

• Can be overwhelming to new users with a steep learning curve
• Not the best support
• Only for Android users

4. Lightspeed POS

Unfortunately, eQuatePOS is currently Android-exclusive.

Key features

• Connect to Authorize.net, PayPal, and other payment gateways. PCI Certified and use EMV Level I, II Contact, and Contactless readers
• Allow adding and moving stocks easily between stores. Sync adjustments on item prices. Automatically order new inventory for your store
• Create and manage recurring transactions on customer accounts. Set automatic billing for your customers
• Generate redeemable customer gift cards that users can claim for rewards
• Unify sales data in a dashboard, allowing you to run your multiple stores from one single location. You can run and export reports to CSV files easily.
• Track and log employee hours to complete the payroll process in seconds Record documents about employees, pay rate, start date, and other important information
• Create and assign tickets quickly to track external and internal issues

Pricing

• Starter Plan: $49/ month with 2 licensed terminals, online customer support
• Medium Plan: $99/ month with 5 licensed terminals, online and telephone customer support, unlimited stores, users, and products
• Large Plan: $199/ month with 15 licensed terminals, online and telephone customer support, unlimited stores, users, and products

Pros

• Comprehensive toolkits with stacked features
• Easy access and management from anywhere
• Automatic inventory management

Cons

• Can be overwhelming to new users with a steep learning curve
• Not the best support
• Only for Android users

5. LivePos

LivePOS is a dynamic cloud-based point of sale system catering to the unique needs of multi-store and franchise operations. It offers robust features that facilitate real-time tracking of sales and inventory across different locations, ensuring efficient management and scalability. This POS Authorize.net system also scales flexibly, which is essential for businesses that anticipate growth or have dynamic operational needs.

Looking for enterprise-level solutions? Go LivePOS!

Key features

• Work with Authorize.net, First Data, and Mercury
• Support external credit card terminals and hardware
• Add and edit products directly in the cloud warehouse. Update and manage suppliers easily from the main dashboard
• Receive, process, and request purchase orders automatically. Just set up the automation and the system will handle the rest
• Record and search for returning customers quickly. Allow users to view transaction history, and missing, or damaged items. You can implement loyalty programs to target specific demographics from collected insights.
• Track products sold, weekly employee sales, stock levels, and more. Allow real-time inventory and item tracking to ensure you’re always fully stocked
• Detailed reports include product gross profit, loss, refund, and wholesale-retail. Provide deep analysis of location and employee performance for better management
• Allow businesses with multiple outlets to manage products, pricing, and promotions across all locations
• Enable sales staff to process transactions and access system features directly from the sales floor

Pricing

LivePOS offers three packages with pay-as-you-go or annual payment for a discount.

• Lite: $99/ month or $89/ month if paid annually. Basic features include inventory management, a real-time dashboard, and CRM.
• Pro: $139/ month or $169/ month if paid annually. Lite features plus better support, payroll functions, and more.
• Enterprise: $279/ month or $299/ month if paid annually. Pro features plus 3rd-party integrations and data migration.

Pros

• Simple and easy to use with scalable functions
• Superb multi-store support for easy management
• Fast and reliable
• Easy connect to Authorize.net POS portal

Cons

• Can be expensive
• Crashes randomly
• Potential problems with iOS

So, what POS software should you get to replace the native ones that Authorize.net offers? Unfortunately, there’s no end-all-be-all answer that checks all the boxes. Depending on your business and unique needs, certain POS systems will outperform others in specific cases.

It’s important to review what the system offers and whether it aligns with your needs. However, we’d like to end on a general recommendation to get you something to start with. Here are our Authorize.net POS suggestions for small to medium-sized businesses and enterprises.

1. Magestore POS: Best all-rounder. Perfect for businesses of all sizes. Flexible, scalable, easy to use, and comes with custom pricing (POS for Magento) or subscription (POS for Shopify), meaning you’ll only pay for the features you need.
2. Lightspeed POS: Great for small to medium-sized businesses. This system should cover all the needs of your stores across multiple locations. It requires high maintenance but reliability.
3. LivePOS: #1 choice for enterprises. LivePOS is built to maximize the efficiency of enterprise-level businesses. It allows integrations to various tools and platforms for unmatched scalability.

You may be interested in:

• 7 best POS systems for QuickBooks integration (Real client story)
• 7 best Worldpay POS for fast checkout and real-time data sync

Is the list of POS software above “legit”? Here’s some information to help you confirm the credibility of our picks:

• Magestore experts curated the list and content of the article. Magestore is a collective with extensive industry knowledge and expertise, striving to provide industry-specific insights into the discussion.
• The evaluation process for the information involves official documents from the official websites of each POS system. Additionally, Magestore collected customer reviews from their database and reputable platforms such as Capterra, G2, and GetApp, to reflect actual user experiences and feedback.
• This list is ideal for online merchants and business owners who want to integrate a POS with Authorize.net. It provides valuable insights and recommendations tailored to enhance their transaction processes and overall business efficiency.

1. Is Authorize.net a point of sale?

No, Authorize.net is not a point of sale (POS) system. It’s a payment gateway service that allows businesses to accept and process payments.

2. What POS integrates with Authorize.net?

Many POS systems integrate with Authorize.net including Magestore POS, LivePOS, Lightspeed POS, eQuatePOS, Square, and Clover.

3. Does Authorize.net work with Shopify POS?

Yes, Shopify POS Authorize.net integration is possible. Shopify supports Authorize.net as a payment gateway.

4. What payment methods does Authorize.net accept?

Authorize.net supports all major credit cards, debit cards, electronic check and ACH solutions, and online payments.

5. Which payment gateways can Magestore POS integrate with?

Magestore POS is compatible with Authorize.net POS terminals, PayPal, Stripe, Heartland payment systems, Braintree, Adyen, etc. Learn more about Magestore’s supported integrations.

Magento 2 Blog Extension by Mageplaza

If you want to manage blog posts on your website effectively, the Magento 2 Better Blog extension from Mageplaza is a must-have tool for your online store.

After installing this extension, you can manage blog posts directly within your eCommerce platform. You can easily create new blog posts, categorize them, and handle comments. The extension gives you all the necessary features to deliver the best content to your visitors. 

Moreover, this module provides advanced SEO features that help your online store rank higher on Google’s search results page and generate more organic traffic.

Outstanding features:

• Compatible with the Hyva theme for a cohesive design
• Easily organize content using widgets and root categories
• Allow sharing blogs via social sharing buttons
• Enable user engagement and feedback through 3 comment types, including Disqus, Facebook, and Default
• Simplify content management by offering import and export functionality
• Keep users informed with syndicated content when integrating with RSS
• Ensure a seamless experience across devices via a responsive design
• Provide valuable insights to readers by displaying view counts, read time, and tags (Pro)
• Optimize URLs for search engine visibility by using SEO-friendly permalinks (Pro)
• Enhance content relevancy with metadata fields (Pro)
• Ensure proper indexing by search engines via integrating with XML Sitemap (Pro)

To learn more about the Magento Blog extension and its specific features, you can use a demo to see how it works in reality.

Pricing: 

Magento edition:

• Community edition: Free
• Enterprise edition: +$200

Extension version:

• Standard: Free
• Professional: $199

Installation: +$50

Support service: +$49

Compatibility: 

Magento 2.3.* – 2.4.6

Magefan Magento 2 blog allows you to control your blog posts from one interface. You won’t need to install other platforms like WordPress to set up a blog for your Magento store. 

With the best SEO practices, you can optimize your blog posts for search engines and attract customers with compelling content. You can also easily manage posts, categories, tags, comments, and authors directly from the Magento admin panel.

Furthermore, you can use the Magefan blog extension to create a new section in the store. It provides a useful channel for communicating with customers and ensuring they keep up to date with the latest news information, promotions, and announcements from you. 

Outstanding features:

• Provide over 22 blog templates for post lists and homepages
• Create limitless blog content with categories, tags, and authors
• Schedule and preview posts before publishing to ensure quality
• Cross-promote products within the blog and integrate posts into your product catalog
• Add featured and recent posts anywhere in your store via widgets
• Enhance blog navigation with 8 different sidebar widgets

Price: 

Free

Compatibility: 

Magento 2.3.0 – 2.4.7 (CE, EE, ECE, B2B)

Magento 2 Blog Extension by KnowBand

A blog plays an important role in driving organic traffic to websites and helping convert sales. By posting informative articles, you can share valuable insights about your products and brand with your audience. The Magento 2 Blog extension from KnowBand offers all the essential features to maximize the blogging benefits.

Outstanding features:

• Allow users to post an unlimited number of blog posts
• Easily customize the blog’s appearance and content
• Configure your website settings to display popular posts on the homepage prominently
• Swiftly approve comments in the backend
• Ensure compatibility across multiple devices

Price: 

Free

Compatibility: 

Magento 2.0.0 – 2.3.4

Blog Extension for Magento 2 by MageBees

Blog in your eCommerce store helps you communicate effectively with customers and provides a unique platform to showcase your products in a different light. With this Magento 2 Blog Extension, you can create and manage blog posts directly within your Magento backend. 

Outstanding features:

• Easily compose and publish new blog articles from your Magento admin panel
• Enhance your blog layout with customizable widgets, such as recent posts, popular articles, or featured content
• Share your blog posts via social networks
• Organize your blog content effectively by adding a multi-level category tree
• Manage old URL redirect to new URL Automatically by using URLReWrite management
• Quickly import WordPress posts, categories, tags, comments information

Price: 

License fees:

• Open Source: $49
• Enterprise: $98
• Cloud: $98

Additional services:

• Installation: $39
• Design and configuration: $79
• Installation, design, and configuration: $99

Compatibility: 

Magento 2.2.x – 2.4.x

Magento 2 Blog Extension by MageArray

The Magento 2 Blog Extension by MageArray integrates seamlessly with your Magento backend, converting it into a fully functional blog module to create and manage blog articles. Moreover, businesses can effectively engage with their visitors by sharing various content such as new product introductions, upcoming events, special offers, and more.

Outstanding features:

• Create long and short content effortlessly
• Add images to blog posts with fast loading and automatic resizing features
• Easily categorize blog posts for swift navigation
• Provide SEO features such as customization URL, meta title, meta keywords, meta description, category, and author with Breadcrumb support
• Manage comment approval using a captcha or email notification feature
• Offer multi-store and multilingual blogs

Price: 

$129

Compatibility: 

Magento 2.3.x and 2.4.x

Magento 2 Blog Extension by Magezon

Magezon Blog Extension is designed to enhance your Magento 2 store’s blogging capabilities. With this extension, you can create compelling content, manage blog articles, and elevate your online presence, all within the Magento ecosystem without relying on external platforms like WordPress. 

Outstanding features:

• Easily design blog pages to match your brand and style with customizable blog layouts
• Enhance user experience with intuitive navigation
• Complete control and personalize your blog articles effortlessly
• Interact with your audience through 3 comment  types, including Disqus, Facebook, and Native
• Share your blog posts on social networks with a socializing function
• Optimize your blog content for search engines through Advanced SEO Performance such as XML sitemap, canonical tags, permalink settings, SEO-Friendly URL key, and open graph metadata

Price: 

• Community: $129
• Enterprise: $329

Support (optional):

• 3 months: Free
• 6 months: $79
• 12 months: $129

Additional services (optional):

• Installations support: $50
• Priority support service: $99

Compatibility: 

Magento 2.0.x – 2.4.x

Blog MX for Magento 2 by Mirasvit

Blog MX is a great extension for Magento 2 developed by Mirasvit to enhance the default Magento blog functionality. With Blog MX, you can create a dynamic blog, which helps attract customers to your shop activities. Through various content types, such as images and articles, you can share valuable information, showcase products, and enhance the shopping experience.

Outstanding features:

• Simplify blog management via a user-friendly interface and functionality
• Organize content neatly using multi-level categories
• Create and format blog posts effortlessly with the WYSIWYG post editor
• Easily tailor the blog to your needs through an intuitive configuration process
• Boost visibility with automatic SEO-friendly URLs

Price: 

License fee:

• Open Source (CE): $219
• Commerce (EE): $449
• Commerce on Cloud (ECE): $679

Update and support: $132 / year

Installation: Free

Compatibility: 

Magento 2.3.x – 2.4.6

Blog for Magento 2 by Aheadworks

The Aheadworks Magento 2 blog extension enriches your online store by providing a useful blog feature. With this extension, you can create attractive content to reach a wide audience and build a loyal community around your brand. Whether you want to share news, articles, or product updates, this extension equips you with all the necessary features to increase your online presence. 

Outstanding features:

• Stay relevant and enhance your blog’s visibility with JSON-LD (Linked Data) support
• Encourage interaction and discussions on your blog with Disqus comment service
• Effortlessly migrate your existing WordPress blog to Magento 2
• Optimize your blog for search engines with comprehensive SEO features, including metadata, tag affixes, and canonical URLs
• Enable GraphQL for efficient searches and provide RSS feeds for an enjoyable reading experience

Price: 

License fee:

• Open Source:
  • License (first payment): $280
  • Regular payments: $16.99/month or $164.99/year

• Commerce: 
  • License (first payment): $560
  • Regular payments: $32.99/month or $329.99/year

Installation: Free

Compatibility: 

Magento 2.4.4 – 2.4.6

Blog Pro for Magento 2 by Amasty

Blog Pro for Magento 2 is a helpful extension to drive more target audiences to your online store. Whether you want to share industry insights, product updates, or engaging stories, this extension provides a seamless way to manage and publish blog content. Additionally, its built-in SEO features can help improve the search engine rankings of your blogs.

Outstanding features:

• Adjust the blog design to match your brand with a customized layout, fonts, widgets, and structure
• Ensure fast mobile page loading via AMP
• Manage comments and allow visitors to share content via social sharing buttons
• Create SEO-friendly blog pages with metadata and canonical URLs
• Import data from WordPress to Magento

Price:  

License fee:

• Community: 
  • License fee: $349
  • Updates and support prolongation: $215/year
• Enterprise:
  • License fee: $649
  • Updates and support prolongation: $395
• Magento Cloud:
  • License fee: $949
  • Updates and support prolongation: $575

Installation: Free

Compatibility:

Magento 2.4.6-p4, 2.4.5-p6, 2.4.4-p7, 2.3.7-p4

There are many Magento 2 blog extensions available to help you manage your blog posts effortlessly. If you find a comprehensive solution for creating, managing, and optimizing your online store’s blog content, the Mageplaza Blog extension might be one of your best choices. This module has all the features you need to deliver the best content to your audience directly from the admin panel without relying on external platforms. Furthermore, Better Blog from Mageplaza allows you to create meta information for posts, categories, and tags. It also supports SEO-friendly permalinks and an XML sitemap. Therefore, your site can rank higher in search results and attract more potential customers.

You can consider each above blog extension provider’s features, pros, cons, pricing, and support and make the right decision. With over 15 years of experience as a solution provider for Magento, Magestore has deep knowledge and comprehensive expertise in the eCommerce and retail industry. This helps us gain insights into crucial factors of an effective solution and service for businesses. With the above-detailed comparison, this article will empower you to make informed decisions about your e-commerce solution!

What’s Tyro and what does Tyro do?

Tyro is a payment service provider in Australia that offers a wide range of solutions, such as the exceptionally fast EFTPOS and lending and banking products. Their purpose is to simplify payments and commerce so their customers can focus on running businesses.

Among the numerous industry pioneers, Tyro became the first technology company to get the license of an acquirer bank and a full bank license of Australia. They also started the first cloud-based EFTPOS solution that was integrated into EFTPOS Medicare rebates and non-stop acquiring services.

Does Tyro have POS software?

No. Tyro doesn’t have POS software. They only have POS hardware (EFTPOS) to process contactless payments in your brick-and-mortar stores.

In the section below, we’ll provide the top 7 POS that integrate with Tyro to help retailers process transactions quickly and update customer payment data in real time.

What’s Tyro EFTPOS?

Tyro EFTPOS is a versatile device that seamlessly integrates with supported POS and PMS (Practice Management Software) via broadband or WiFi to process card and contactless payments.

How does Tyro EFTPOS work?

Think of an EFTPOS machine as the brain of the payment system. It does all the hard work; it reads cards and moves money around to make payments happen.

Here’s how it works: When a customer uses their card on an EFTPOS machine, the machine sends a payment request to the business’s bank, like Tyro. In a flash, Tyro asks the customer’s bank if there’s enough money in the account and if the transaction is secure. If all is well, the customer’s bank gives a thumbs up. The money is then set aside and moved from the customer’s bank to Tyro. Finally, Tyro puts the money into the business’s bank account, and the transaction is done. The whole process is secure and safe.

Source: Tyro

To ensure a smooth operation, your Tyro POS system should have the following key features:

• Faster card transactions: The POS system should handle a card transaction in a matter of seconds to speed up the checkout process.
• Simplified reconciliation: POS should help record transaction data and sync with accounting software for end-of-day reconciliation.
• Secure encrypted transactions: Every transaction with the POS system should be securely encrypted to protect customer information.
• Integration with eCommerce platforms: POS systems will be able to integrate with eCommerce platforms to sync and centralize customer information and inventory for better management.
• Inventory control: The POS should update inventory status in real time and transfer stocks between stores and warehouses.
• Reporting: POS should provide comprehensive reports of sales, inventory, customer, and staff performance so that retailers can always know what’s happening in their business.
• Ability to work on multiple devices like iPads, Android tablets, PCs, and Macs
• Ability to connect with 3rd-party software to expand the functionalities

In addition, if your business operates in Australia or you have business involvement with Australian companies, you should look for POS providers that support you to perform tax obligations and maintain the transparency of your financial transactions.

• Requirements for record-keeping: The POS systems must facilitate accurate record-keeping activities such as creating transaction reports and connecting with accounting software for reconciliation. Make sure the POS doesn’t have functions to manipulate the transaction recording like delete and re-sequence transactions, change transactions to reduce the amount of a sale, etc. All is to avoid any electronic sales suppression activity.
• Support for Goods and Services Tax (GST): Ensure your POS solutions can correctly calculate and handle GST for various types of products and services.
• Complying with tax laws: Your POS providers must comply with all relevant tax laws and regulations, such as GST, income tax, and others. This means that their systems must support the necessary reporting requirements and are updated to adapt to any tax law changes.
• Data security and privacy protection: The POS system can safeguard sensitive financial and personal information and ensure compliance with relevant data security and privacy regulations.

In general, there’s a wide range of POS systems available in Australia, each designed to cater to the specific requirements of different businesses. We’ve shortlisted 7 best POS software to work with Tyro for your convenience. Let’s explore.

The integration of POS and payment systems boosts operational efficiency, enhances the customer experience, and offers valuable insights to support decision-making. Here’s a comprehensive comparison table of 7 POS software that work with Tyro.

Magestore POS: Best for multi-store Magento retailers

Magestore POS is among the partners of Tyro, a leading Magento-based solution provider for eCommerce businesses. Their flagship product, Magento POS provides real-time data synchronization between online and offline sales channels to facilitate omnichannel selling.

Besides, their latest POS for Shopify that can integrate with multiple payment processors including Tyro, PayPal, Stripe, Square, etc. and work on various devices like PCs, iPads, Android tablets provides an affordable solution for retailers to run daily operations without hassles.

Key features

• Seamlessly integrate with many payment processors like Tyro, Stripe, PayPal, Square to offer multiple payment methods for customers
• Create customers and checkout orders in seconds
• Sync inventory, orders, and consumers between locations and channels in real time
• Create many types of reports on daily sales, cash flows, and more
• Offer a range of loyalty programs to attract customers, such as reward points, store credits, and gift cards
• Can process returns, refunds, and product exchanges
• Adhere to PCI regulations and securely store confidential information
• Work well on any devices and in offline mode
• Easy to customize to fit your changing needs
• Smoothly connect with 3rd-party software and hardware to enrich functionalities

Pricing

Magestore’s fees are determined by the complexity of your business, the number of stores you have, and the level of support and service you require. For precise pricing tailored to your specific needs, please contact Magestore.

Pros and cons

Shopify POS: Best for Shopify merchants

Tyro Shopify POS is one of the 7 best POS software programs on this list. It brings everything together in one platform to start, manage, and grow your business with ease. With Shopify POS, you can process and connect sales at your physical shops to your Shopify stores effortlessly. This way, all your client’s orders, whether online, mobile, or in-store, are tracked in one place.

Integrating Shopify POS with Tyro, whenever customers make payments via Tyro, the transaction data will flow smoothly into your Shopify system.

Key features

• Sync inventory between online and physical stores
• Offer store pickup, QR code payments, and more to guarantee a seamless customer experience
• Assign responsibilities and permissions to employees for data protection
• Accept all major credit and debit cards, gift cards, and other payment methods
• Improve performance and add features with over 8,000 integrated apps

Pricing

Sell in person

• Starter plan: $5/month for 1 POS login and limited online store
• Retail plan: $89/month if you pay monthly and $79/ month if you pay yearly, unlimited POS logins and limited online store

Sell everywhere

• Basic plan: $25/month + $89/month for each POS Pro location, unlimited POS logins and a fully functional online store
• Shopify plan: $65 per month + $89 per month for each POS Pro location, which includes 5 additional staff accounts, unlimited POS logins, and a fully functional online store.
• Advanced plan: $399 per month + $89 per month for each POS Pro location, which includes 15 extra staff accounts, unlimited POS logins, and a fully functional online store.

Pros and cons