EMV payment is a payment type that lets customers use EMV chip cards to pay for their in-store purchases. These cards are central to EMV technology, which uses multiple security methods to protect cardholders’ information.

In particular, EMV utilizes a computer chip embedded in credit and debit cards to store and transmit transaction data. The chip generates a unique code for each purchase and sends this code to a specific card reader to process a transaction. This mechanism impedes fraudsters from obtaining credit card information to commit fraud like counterfeiting cards. Therefore, EMV payment processing is more secure than traditional magstripe payments. Card issuers, retailers, and shoppers all gain enormous protection from this payment type.

In addition, EMV payment is best at securing in-store transactions. Retailers must have EMV payment terminals in place to accept EMV cards at brick-and-mortar stores. While customers swipe magstripe cards to start paying, they insert their chip cards into the POS terminals to make payments. Subsequently, customers enter their personal identification number (PIN) or give their signatures to verify and authorize the purchase.

Even though EMV ensures high security for card-present transactions, the protection for card-not-present (CNP) transactions is somewhat restricted. Consequently, EMVCo has developed other methods to improve security for CNP payments. The most noticeable technologies are EMV Payment Tokenization and EMV 3-D Secure.

An EMV chip card refers to a credit or debit card equipped with a powerful computer chip that transfers payment data to card terminals for transaction processing.

EMV chip cards store customer data on a chip, not on the magnetic stripes printed on the back of the cards, and only work with specific terminals. Consequently, these cards are less vulnerable to financial attacks and fraud such as counterfeit fraud than magstripe cards.

EMV chip cards come in 2 types, indicating different ways cardholders authorize their purchases. Look at the distinction between the 2 EMV chip types as follows.

• Chip and PIN: This type requires customers to enter a PIN to verify identity and authenticate a transaction at the point of sale. Since only the legitimate owner knows this secret number associated with the card, EMV chip and PIN cards ensure high transaction safety.
• Chip and signature: Transactions using chip and signature need cardholders to sign their names to complete the purchase. As it’s easy to copy or fake a signature, chip and signature have higher risks of counterfeit fraud than chip and PIN EMV.

Many new chip cards now come with NFC technology that enables EMV contactless payments. Customers can tap their cards or EMV payment devices with mobile wallets over the card readers to process payments swiftly and securely.

Besides creating dynamic codes to defend transaction data, EMV chip cards also come with different authentication methods to minimize the chances of unauthorized card use, especially when the card is lost or stolen.

While magnetic strips on cards transmit real card numbers to card readers, EMV chips produce one-time codes for each purchase and send them to the retailers’ card terminals. In this way, EMV technology helps safeguard customers’ sensitive payment data during the transaction, thereby lowering the risks of card fraud.

To process payments, the EMV chips communicate with a dedicated card terminal to transfer payment data. Below, we demonstrate how EMV chip payments work.

• After customers present an EMV card to pay for an in-store purchase, merchants insert the card into an EMV chip card reader with the chip end first instead of swiping. Another way is to tap an NFC-enabled chip card or mobile device over the terminal to make contactless payments.
• Then, the EMV payment card transmits an encrypted code that contains the card information, not the real card numbers as in the case of magnetic strips, to the payment terminal. The EMV chips generate a unique code for each purchase, which means these codes are one-time and can’t be replicated, thus preventing fraudsters from stealing the card data to create a counterfeit card or use the card illegally. This is what makes an EMV payment solution more secure than a magstripe payment.
• After that, customers enter their PIN or provide their signature to validate the transaction depending on the card types they’re using: chip and PIN or chip and signature.
• The payment terminal communicates the received payment data to the merchant’s POS, which sends the information to the EMV payment system. The payment processor then reaches the card issuer and asks for authorization.
• The card issuer approves or rejects the request for payments, then the merchant can complete the transaction on the POS and remove the cards.

Although EMV helps secure customers’ payments, it comes with certain disadvantages that can hold retailers back from deploying the technology in credit card processing. Let’s learn more about the benefits and drawbacks of EMV in handling credit card transactions.
Benefits:

• Enhanced security and fraud prevention: EMV chip technology uses multiple layers of security to protect cardholders’ information from exposure. The unique transaction codes EMV chips generate for each purchase deter customers’ card information from falling into fraudsters’ hands and make duplicating EMV cards almost impossible. Even in the event of data breaches, fraudsters can’t replicate or use the one-time codes for ill purposes like counterfeit cards or unauthorized transactions. Besides, authentication methods including PIN and signature also increase the security level of the customers’ payments.
• Customer trust: Using EMV payment solutions removes customers’ worries about the potential risks of revealing their credit card data. Once knowing that their financial information receives protection, customers tend to use credit and debit cards for payments more frequently. Besides, they also have more trust in retailers and make repeat purchases.
• Growing popularity: EMV has gained widespread acceptance across the globe; therefore, customers can confidently pay with EMV chip cards in plenty of countries. Retailers can also attract more customers who prefer EMV payment, contactless payments, or mobile wallets.

Drawbacks:

• Limited protection for card-not-present purchases: The level of security that EMV provides largely relies on the chip at the back of the cards, so these EMV chips can’t maximize their protective strength for card-not-present transactions like online or phone-based purchases. In these cases, retailers have to use additional security methods to keep the transactions safe.
• Expenses for POS system upgrade: To employ EMV technology, retailers need to incur the costs of investing in EMV card readers and upgrading the POS system to assist EMV payments. These costs can be high for small retailers and hinder them from using EMV for credit card processing.

EMV chip cards are highly beneficial to both customers and retailers. Not only do they provide customers with more secure payment options, but they also render retailers exempt from the financial loss and liability resulting from fraudulent transactions. Therefore, accepting EMV chip cards at your stores is necessary to ensure a safe and secure checkout experience for your customers.

Enabling your retail store to accept an EMV payment is no hard work but needs some consideration.

• First, you need to ensure that your existing POS and payment systems can integrate seamlessly with EMV chip technology.
• Additionally, your POS should connect well with various 3rd-party EMV payment systems such as Stripe and Square.
• It’s also ideal if your POS system and payment processing services facilitate other types of chip card payments like EMV contactless payments or mobile wallets.

In some cases, you have to upgrade or replace your current card reader with an EMV payment terminal. As chipped debit cards or credit cards still come with magnetic stripes, retailers without EMV-compatible equipment still can process chip transactions. However, they’ll have to take responsibility for any fraudulent transactions that happen.

Magestore’s Magento POS and Shopify POS are feature-rich POS software that can connect well with unlimited payment providers and POS terminals to accept EMV payments. Magestore POS also supports a wide array of payment types like credit, debit cards, contactless payments, and digital wallets, which help you cater to the diverse payment preferences of your customers.

You also need to educate your employees and customers so they can be aware of the benefits EMV payment solutions bring back and how to handle them correctly.

EMV chip technology uses data encryption, tokenization, and authentication to ensure highly secure payments and protect customers and businesses from credit card fraud. As a result, it has become a necessity for retailers of different sizes at a global scale.

Customers, business owners, and card issuing banks can all benefit from using EMV for credit card processing. However, some retailers might be reluctant to deploy EMV technology as the investment costs for new EMV card readers can be high. Considering the long-term advantages and savings that EMV offers, adopting EMV technology is a must if businesses don’t want to be left behind.

What is EMV in retail?

In retail, EMV indicates a payment standard for credit and debit cards developed and popularized by 3 major credit card processing companies, which are Europay, Mastercard, and Visa.

What is the difference between an EMV and a chip?

A computer chip, or chip, is a small piece of semiconducting material that consists of many transistors to transmit data. On the other hand, EMV refers to EMV technology that uses a computer chip on a credit or debit card to transfer encrypted data to an EMV reader securely.

What does EMV stand for in POS?

In POS, EMV means EMV payments, which means customers can use a credit or debit card embedded with an EMV chip to make purchases in-store.

Is EMV the same as contactless?

No, EMV is different from contactless. EMV is a payment technology that uses encryption, tokenization, and authentication methods to transfer payment data securely between a credit card and an EMV chip reader. Otherwise, contactless payments use NFC technology that allows different devices to communicate and transmit data wirelessly over a short range.

Is an EMV chip the same as an RFID chip?

No, EMV chips are not the same as RFID chips. EMV chips encode and transfer data from an EMV chip card to a specific card reader to process a transaction. Meanwhile, an RFID chip stores and transfers data between devices at a short distance with no touch.

The table below draws a distinction between POS vs terminals in terms of definition, components, key functions, pros, cons, and other important information.

Unlike traditional POS which mainly processes payments, modern POS nowadays has more advanced functions to help merchants better manage their businesses like inventory management or customer loyalty programs. However, many retailers are unaware of this huge progress and still think that POS is used to take payments only, which sometimes makes it hard for them to distinguish between POS vs terminals when choosing a suitable solution for their businesses.

To reduce confusion, we compare the key features, pros, cons, and prices of the most popular POS systems vs payment terminals available on the market for your reference, including Stripe Terminal, Square Terminal, Magestore POS, and Lightspeed Retail. Let’s take a look!

The answer depends on how well you understand the differences between POS vs terminals and your business situation. Before reaching the final decision, you should analyze your business types, scales, and objectives thoroughly to see what you need. Besides, a comprehensive POS system has higher prices than a payment terminal. Therefore, you’d better balance your requirements and financial resources to ensure you make suitable investments in what works best for your business.

For example, small merchants with tight budgets use payment terminals independently to accept card payments. Nevertheless, retailers with more complex workflows or expansion plans prefer a POS system as it offers more features to aid business management.

Using a POS system with card readers is also an ideal choice if you want to facilitate card payments from customers while still running your business effectively. Besides, you should also check whether POS and terminals can work smoothly with each other. The compatibility of the two solutions removes unnecessary conflicts and errors, thus producing enormous benefits for your business.

• POS systems consist of both POS hardware and POS software.

POS hardware includes card readers, barcode scanners, receipt printers, cash drawers, tablets, laptops, or desktops.
POS software integrates with payment processors to handle card and mobile payments.

• Popular types of payment terminals comprise card readers, countertop terminals, EMV payment terminals. Thus payment terminals are a component of POS hardware.
• At checkout, customers swipe, tap, or dip their cards or mobile wallets at the payment terminals. The integrated POS software then encrypts and transmits the payment details to the payment processors for authorization.
• Using payment terminals independently is suitable for small businesses that simply need to handle in-store payments.
• A more established business will need a complete POS system with POS hardware and POS software to process payments and manage other operations such as inventory, customer, order fulfillment, and reporting.

What is the difference between a POS and a card reader machine?

A POS includes POS software and hardware. It helps process payments and streamline business operations. Otherwise, a card reader is an electronic device that can work as a standalone payment solution or as part of a complete POS system. It collects and transmits customer card data to and receives responses from specific payment processors.

What makes a POS system different from a payment gateway?

A POS system supports inventory management, employee tracking, and more. On the contrary, a payment gateway is an intermediary platform that primarily facilitates online payments. Its main function is to securely transfer transaction data between businesses and payment service providers.

What is the difference between a POS terminal and an EDC terminal?

A point of sale terminal accepts payments from different card types, including magnetic stripe, EMV chip, and contactless cards while EDC or electronic data capture terminals support magnetic stripe cards only.

What is the difference between a POS and a virtual terminal?

POS systems handle payments and execute other business management activities. Unlike POS, a virtual point of sale terminal is a web-based app that allows merchants to take payments from customers via phone, email, or fax. Merchants only need to use Internet-connected laptops, tablets, or smartphones to process payments.

Is POS the same as a payment processor?

No, they’re not the same. POS solutions have plenty of functions to help simplify business operations, whereas payment processors coordinate the payment processing flow between customers, businesses, and relevant financial institutions. Payment processors transmit transaction data to customers’ issuing banks for verification and authorization. They also ensure the transfer of funds between the customers’ issuing banks and the merchant’s acquiring banks.

A payment gateway is a technology that enables businesses to accept customer payments online or in-store. It securely collects, encrypts, and sends payment data to payment processors for verification, ensuring that transactions go quickly and safely.

In physical stores, it covers point of sale (POS) terminals where consumers may swipe or tap their cards or smartphones to pay for items. In the online environment, it refers to “checkout” portals where clients submit their payment information.

A payment gateway supports a variety of payment methods to enhance shopping experiences for customers, including:

• Debit cards
• Credit cards
• Digital wallets
• QR codes
• Near-field communication (NFC)

Nowadays, there are many retail payment gateways available to suit a variety of business needs and sizes. PayPal, Stripe, Square, and Authorize.net are a few examples. We’ll discuss them in detail later.

Here’s a step-by-step explanation of how a payment gateway operates in a transaction:

1. Customers start a transaction.

When consumers shop in a physical store, they need to put the card into the POS terminal and then enter their personal identification number (PIN) to pay for the item.

If buying online, they must submit their card information on the checkout page. This information contains the cardholder’s name, card number, card expiration date, and card verification value (CVV) code.

2. The payment gateway encrypts and transmits the data.

After receiving customer payment information, the payment gateway encrypts transaction data and conducts fraud checks with various technologies, such as the Luhn algorithm, to ensure the validity of PINs. This technique safeguards data against unwanted access or theft. After encryption, the gateway transmits the data to the payment processor.

3. The payment processor validates the transaction.

The payment processor takes transaction data from the integrated payment gateway, verifies it, and transmits it to the customer’s bank via an appropriate card network.

4. The customer’s bank (issuing bank) authorizes the request.

The issuing bank checks the transaction details, account balance, and payment method validity.

• If the issuing bank says yes, it sends an authorization code back through the card network to the payment processor and the payment gateway.
• If it declines, the bank sends a decline code and reason.

5. The merchant’s bank (acquiring bank) authorizes the response.

The payment gateway transmits the authorization answer to the merchant.

• If accepted, the merchant fulfills the order.
• If refused, the merchant requests a different payment method.

6. The transaction is done.

Once the issuing bank approves the transaction, the merchant delivers the products or services to the customer, completing the transaction.

7. Payment settlement

After authorization, the payment processors facilitate transferring funds from the customer’s bank to the merchant’s bank through the card network. This process often takes a few hours or one to two business days.

The 4 main types of payment gateways are:

• Hosted payment gateways
• Self-hosted payment gateways
• Application programming interface (API) payment gateways
• Local bank integration gateways

Let’s explore the distinctions between these sorts.

Here’s a list of seven popular payment gateways, along with their standout features:

Further reading:

• 7 POS integrates with Stripe for smooth transaction process
• 8 Square POS integration for effective payments and operations

Typically, a payment gateway charges 3 types of fees.

• Setup fees can range from $0 to several hundred dollars, depending on the payment gateway provider and the complexity of the setup.
• Monthly fees may vary from $0 for simple plans to $100+ for more comprehensive plans that include extra features and support.
• Transaction fees typically consist of a percentage of each sale (ranging from 1% to 3+%) plus a predetermined price per transaction (usually between $0.20 and $0.50). These fees can also vary depending on the kind of card used (credit or debit), the location of the transaction (domestic or international), and the number of transactions handled.

For example, Authorize.net doesn’t charge setup costs and offers 3 pricing plans:

In this regard, it’s fundamental to compare several payment gateway providers to find the best match for your business’s needs and budget.

In a payment transaction, the payment gateway and payment processor collaborate but play different roles.

The payment gateway securely gathers and transmits client payment information to the payment processor. The processor then works with the card network and banks to authorize and transfer money between the customer’s and merchant’s accounts.

A payment gateway and a payment terminal serve different roles in the payment process.

As mentioned above, a payment gateway is a technology that handles card and phone-based payments from your clients. It acts as a virtual POS in the digital world.

Meanwhile, a payment terminal is a physical POS device used in brick-and-mortar stores to process in-person payments.

We hope this article has helped you understand what payment gateways are, how they work, and what role they play in the payment process. Let’s spend some minutes reviewing the key points of the article.

• A payment gateway is a technology that accepts your customers’ preferred payment methods and protects your transactions in both online and offline operations.
• Payment processing has several stages. First, the payment gateway encrypts and sends payment information to the payment processor. The processor then confirms the transaction with banks, authorizes the payment and facilitates the movement of money between the client and merchant accounts.
• There are 4 main types of payment gateways: Hosted payment gateways, self-hosted payment gateways, API payment gateways, and local bank integration gateways.
• Payment gateway vs payment processor: The payment gateway securely encrypts and transmits payment information, whereas the payment processor authorizes and transfers payments between banks.
• Payment gateway vs payment terminal: The payment gateway is the digital interface for payments, whereas the terminal is the physical device used in stores.

1. How do I know the payment gateway of a website?

You’ll know the payment gateway of a site once you reach the checkout portal. Here, you can see the logo, trademark, or mention of the payment providers like PayPal, Authorize.net, Stripe, or Square. This is the simplest way.

Other options include looking at the page’s source code for hints. This requires some technical skills. Alternatively, you can directly contact the merchant website’s customer service for help.

2. Is PayPal a payment gateway?

Yes, it is.

PayPal features an eCommerce payment gateway and a virtual terminal for mobile payments.

Moreover, PayPal’s ease of use and trustworthy reputation make it a popular choice for both small and large merchants.

3. Is Stripe a payment gateway?

Yes, Stripe is a white-label payment gateway. This means it provides a fully-functioning payment gateway interface that supports numerous currencies, languages, and payment methods.

Additionally, Stripe works well with the majority of eCommerce systems, including Magento, Shopify, WooCommerce, and Wix.

Related article: Magento Stripe integration: 5 alternatives to Stripe connectors

A payment processor is a system that accepts and manages financial transactions via credit cards, debit cards, and bank accounts.

Payment processors serve as a bridge between the customer’s bank (the issuing bank) and the merchant bank, authorizing and transferring data to ensure secured and smooth transactions.

Utilizing payment processors to handle transactions in-store and online helps businesses to:

• Achieve industry standards, such as the PCI-DSS certification, to ensure the security of financial transactions
• Satisfy customers’ needs for flexible and convenient payment options, as well as international payment
• Integrate payments with other business operations to streamline management, such as accounting, billing, and customer relationship management (CRM) systems.

Some payment processor examples include Square for retailers, PayPal for low-traffic businesses, Adyen for small businesses with simple operations, and Clover for niche industries such as food and beverage. This article will provide an overview the largest payment processor companies, so keep reading!

An acquirer, also called an acquiring bank or a merchant bank, allows merchants to process card payments securely and quickly. In payment processing, an acquirer provides merchant accounts that hold onto funds for verification before transferring them to the business bank account.

Examples of acquirers are JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, FIS (Worldpay), Fiserv (First Data), and Global Payments.

An issuer, also an issuing bank or card issuer, is a bank that issues credit and debit cards to customers. In payment processing, the issuing bank acts as the gatekeeper, approving or declining transactions based on customer credits and funds and verifying payment method legitimacy to prevent fraud.

JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and Capital One are among the largest issuers in the U.S.

A merchant account is a bank account for businesses to accept customer payments, usually by credit card, debit card, or other electronic transfer. In the payment processing flow, a merchant account serves as a middleman who securely holds onto funds briefly for verification before transferring them to the business bank account.

Note that a merchant card is different from a standard business bank card. While a business bank account handles daily business operations such as payroll or rent, a merchant account focuses solely on securing and speeding up credit card transactions. With a merchant account, it only takes minutes to complete all the security checks and verifications necessary, compared to several days with direct transfers from a customer’s bank account to a business bank account.

Some types of merchant accounts include mobile, eCommerce, and retail merchant accounts.

A payment gateway transmits payment information when a customer taps their card or enters their card details at the point of sale to the acquiring bank for credit card processing. It ensures the encryption and security of sensitive data during the card transaction process. The term includes both card readers and online payment portals.

There’s a wide range of payment gateway options, such as Stripe, PayPal, Apple Pay, and Square.

A card network is an organization that facilitates card-based payments by providing the communication system that issuing banks and businesses use to process credit card transactions.

Some popular card networks are American Express, Mastercard, Visa, China UnionPay, and JCB.

PCI compliance, or Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) compliance, is a set of 12 security standards ensuring credit card transaction security and reducing data breach risks.

EMV cards (also called chip cards or IC cards) are smart credit, debit, or prepaid cards with an embedded microchip that stores data and generates a unique code for each transaction. This makes EMV chip cards safer than magnetic stripe cards, which rely on static data.

You may have heard of some common EMV chip credit card brands, such as JCB, Mastercard, and Visa.

“What does a payment processor do?” is a great question to start learning about the world of payment processing. To answer this question, merchants should take a closer look at the payment transaction flow.

Customers make payments for their purchases, whether in-store at the POS or online, by giving the businesses their credit card details.

The payment gateway encrypts transaction data to prevent data abuse and sends the data to the payment processor.

After receiving the transaction data from the payment gateway, the payment processor validates the transaction details and then forwards them to the acquirer.

The acquirer continues to send the transaction details to the issuer through a card network to request authorization.

The issuer reviews the transaction and decides if the customer has enough credit or money for the payment. It also verifies the legitimacy of the payment method and the customer’s identity to prevent fraud.

When the issuer accepts the transaction, it sends an authorization code back to the acquirer via the card network, which then forwards the response to the payment processor. Otherwise, it sends a message with a decline code and the reason for the decline.

The payment processor receives the information from the acquirer and forwards it to the business. If approved, the business can proceed with the sale. Otherwise, the business should ask customers for an alternative payment method.

Once the issuer approves the transaction, the company delivers the products or services to the customers. At this point, we can consider the transaction complete, although the actual money transfer has yet to occur.

Typically, the business sends a batch of authorized transactions to the payment processor for settlement at the end of every business day. The payment processor then submits this batch to the acquirer, initiating the fund transfer from the issuer to the merchant bank, which often takes one to three business days.

This is the stage where the merchant reviews all settled transactions to ensure they align with the company’s sales records. The business reconciles settled transactions using reports from the payment processor and other sources, such as internal accounting systems and bank statements.

Payment processing services make money through transaction fees, which is a commission as a percentage of the transaction between the merchant and the customer.

Typically, the percentage and fixed fee are combined into a discount rate, including interchange rates, assessment fees, and payment processor markup. For example, a 3.5% + $0.15 discount rate means each transaction grants the merchant acquirer $0.15, and the merchant must also pay 3.5% of the total payment volume (TPV) per dollar.

Pricing structures for payment processors include:

• Flat rate pricing: The merchant pays a fixed percentage per transaction, regardless of the actual expenses. Let’s say the discount rate is 3.5% + $0.15. A $1,000 sale will cost you $35.15.
• Interchange plus pricing: The interchange fee set by the card network plus the markup set by the payment processor. For instance, 2.5% + $0.10 over 1.5% interchange fee means a $1,000 sale will cost you $40.1.
• Tiered pricing: This structure divides transaction rates into qualified, mid-qualified, and non-qualified tiers according to various features, such as the card type and payment method. Each tier has a different processing rate.

Ensuring the security and compliance of your customers’ financial information needs to be your top priority. Therefore, make sure that your in-person and online payment processor adheres to PCI DSS and possesses fraud detection and prevention systems. Besides, it should utilize both encryption and tokenization for an extra layer of security.

42% of U.S. customers won’t complete a transaction if they don’t see their preferred payment option at checkout.
Thus, make sure your payment processor supports different payment methods that customers may prefer, such as digital wallets, debit cards, credit cards, buy now pay later, and any other local payment methods.

For a smooth operation, merchants should choose a payment processor compatible with their existing eCommerce platform, POS system (such as POS for Magento and POS for Shopify), or other business software. Most processors provide easy-to-use APIs, plugins, or SDKs that enable seamless integration with various platforms.

Consider your budget and investigate the available pricing options of the credit card payment processor. To find the most cost-effective solution, businesses should understand the pricing structure as discussed above. Then, opt for a pricing model that aligns with your business’s transaction volume and anticipated growth. 

Choose a payment processor that accepts a variety of currencies and common local payment options if your company operates or intends to grow internationally. Remember to check for international transaction and currency conversion fees as it’ll add up your sale costs.

You should evaluate both the customer checkout flow and the user dashboards your payment processor offers. The checkout flow should have clear instructions and efficient input fields. The user dashboard interface should also be easy to understand, use, and navigate.

Your needs for payment processing will change as your company expands. Choose a processor that can adapt to your growth and supports features like subscription billing, invoicing, and recurring payments.

Now that you’ve learned what is a payment processor. It may get tricky to pick the most suitable one because of the overwhelming number of payment service providers on the market. Moreover, each payment processor has different rates and features and caters to specific business types.

To help you choose the perfect fit with ease, we’ve compiled a list of the 7 top payment processing companies in the below table.

Payment processing meaning stays the same across such industries as banking, retail, and eCommerce. It refers to the series of actions that safely move money from a payer to a payee. It typically involves using electronic payment systems for transaction authorization, verification, and settlement.

When a consumer pays with a credit or debit card to purchase goods or services, a business has to pay a predetermined amount. These costs are deducted from the merchant’s sales revenue and called payment processing fees or merchant acquirer service fees.

Batch payment processing, or bulk payment processing, allows you to combine several payments into one batch and send them all at once from the same business bank account.
Processing payments in batches is more efficient for retailers than making several single payments when paying several recipients, such as for supplier bills, payroll, or overseas payments.

Yes, PayPal is among the most common payment processors in the world.

Yes, Stripe is a scalable, secure, and flexible payment processor that allows businesses to manage online payments.

Yes, Global Payments has point of sale software.
Global Payments develops their own POS apps to accept payments and manage back office business operations, including Restaurant POS and Mobile POS.
Global Payments Mobile POS works on most iOS and Android devices. Pairing with a Mobile POS card reader, its main function is to help merchants accept payments anywhere. Meanwhile, Restaurant POS has more custom features to help small restaurants and food services run their businesses with less hassle.
Besides POS software, Global Payments also has a host of powerful and sleek POS terminals to process payments easily and securely. Below is the list of Global Payments POS terminal devices.

• Global Payments Terminals
• Global Payments Terminal Plus
• Smart Terminals
• FLEX POS (integrate with cash registers or POS systems)
• Countertops
• Wireless
• External/ Integrated PIN Pads

Global Payment Terminals

Global Payments offers merchants multiple POS payment terminals to accept and process flexible payment types like contactless, EMV chip cards, and magnetic stripes at the checkout counter, onsite, or on the go. The terminals range from countertop to wireless designs and can work as a standalone POS terminal or integrate with electronic cash registers or point of sale systems.

Many Global Payments POS terminals come with a pre-installed Unified Payments Application to process sales, refunds, void transactions, email receipts, and transaction reports. Terminal Plus, an all-in-one portable POS payment terminal, readily integrates with a Global Payments point of sale app and back office management tools to deal with more business operation tasks. Even so, the overall functionality of these terminals remains limited.

POS software

Unlike Global Payments Terminals which focus primarily on handling payments, POS software has extensive functions to support complete management of your business operations. Business owners employ POS software to supervise multi-channel and multi-location inventory, orders, customers, and employees, and consolidate key business data for centralized management. POS software can also work with point of sale terminals, card readers, cash registers, and other POS devices for secure and rapid payment processing.

Let’s compare the typical key features, pros, and cons of Global Payments terminals and POS software to see which one is more suitable for your business.

1. Global Payments Restaurant POS: Best for small and medium restaurants

Most Global Payments’ POS solutions serve the main purpose of accepting and processing payments, thus keeping other functions at the basic levels only. For example, the Global Payments Mobile POS supports simple inventory management like editing prices, and adding new or removing products manually. Similarly, the Terminal Plus POS app also performs common tasks like processing sales and refunds, holding orders, and applying taxes to orders.

Restaurant POS is the most full-featured POS app by Global Payments, so it works perfectly with Global Payments terminals. This cloud-based point of sale has essential features to create seamless restaurant workflows and bring a great experience to your customers, including online ordering, self-order kiosks, kitchen display systems, dispatch delivery, and a Guest App.

Key features

Checkout process

• Accept major payment methods, including cash, and contactless payments
• Provide self-order kiosks to speed up order processing

Order management

• Support online and tableside ordering
• Provide a Kitchen Display System to see all orders in real time
• Allow assigning orders to drivers for fast deliveries

Table management

• Let users create seating maps and send text messages to alert customers

Customer experience

• Offer Guest App for customers to collect loyalty points, view order history, etc.
• Support loyalty programs, including rewards, loyalty points, coupons

Employee management

• Manage employee working schedules and payrolls

Pricing

You need to contact Global Payments for pricing details.

Pros and cons

2. Magestore POS: Best for omnichannel retailers of every size

Being highly customizable and scalable, Magestore Magento POS works with a multitude of payment processing services like Global Payments, Square, and Stripe. Therefore, the POS connects well with Global Payments terminals to handle payments of different types.

Magestore Magento POS possesses abundant features to simplify business operations. This Global Payments POS helps you manage inventory efficiently regardless of the store and channel number your business has. By syncing customer, product, and order data across channels in real time, the web based POS by Magestore facilitates omnichannel order fulfillment and loyalty programs. Most impressively, the POS has a robust feature set to boost your checkout process, including order processing in seconds, self checkout systems, and customer facing displays.

Shopify merchants utilize Shopify POS by Magestore to manage their online and offline retailing. This affordable POS system can sync customer, order, loyalty, and product data between channels, provide loyalty programs, and let users control staff roles and access. As a tablet point of sale software, the POS Global Payments for Shopify by Magestore runs smoothly on iPad and Android devices, thus giving you the convenience and flexibility to satisfy your customers anywhere. Unlike the native POS app of Shopify that can’t run on PCs, Magestore POS for Shopify can work well on desktops. Thus, you can keep using your existing POS devices to save initial costs.

Key features

Checkout process

• Generate and process orders in seconds
• Accept many payment types, including cash, credit, debit cards, contactless payments, buy now pay later, split payments, reward points, store credits, gift cards, etc.
• Provide self-checkout services and customer-facing display for fast checkout
• Accept and process orders in offline mode and sync orders when the Internet resumes

Order management

• Offer omnichannel order fulfillment like buy online ship to home and store pickup
• Support full and partial refunds by cash, credit cards, or a mix of payment methods, returns, and exchanges
• Sync order data between channels in real time

Inventory management

• Facilitate cross-channel and cross-location inventory management
• Sync product data like prices, discounts, and quantity between channels in real time
• Support stock transfer, stocktake, and inventory adjustment
• Create and manage purchase orders in a single location
• Manage products and inventory using barcodes and bin systems

Customer management

• Sync customer data across channels in real time
• Provide customer loyalty programs, including reward points, store credits, gift cards

Employee management

• Assign permission for different staff roles
• Track staff working shifts, sales performance, and commissions

Reporting

• Deliver real-time and complete reports on inventory values, stock on hand, sales by employees, sales by suppliers, sales by products, store performance, etc.

Integration and customization

• Integrate with 3rd-party software and services, including marketplaces (Etsy, Amazon, eBay), accounting (Xero, QuickBooks), payments (Adyen, Square, Worldpay, Stripe), shipment (ShipStation, FedEx), ERP (NetSuite, SAP)
• Connect seamlessly with many POS hardware devices
• Scalable and customizable to expand features for future growth

Pricing

Magento POS pricing is a one-time payment. The total cost depends on your business complexity, the number of stores, and the levels of support and services you expect.

You have a 30-day trial before purchasing Shopify POS. This POS by Magestore comes with 2 pricing plans.

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

Pros and cons

3. KORONA POS: Best for small retailers of many types

Besides integrating with Global Payments POS terminals to handle payments, KORONA POS gives you full control of your inventory, from tracking stock levels to overseeing inventory shipping from vendors. KORONA POS also allows users to process refunds and returns easily and offers your customers money or store credits back. Additionally, keeping your customers loyal and encouraging more sales is also easier with the storewide or across-location promotions and discounts supported by the POS.

Key features

Checkout process

• Accept many payment options like contactless payments, gift cards, split payments

Inventory management

• Centralize inventory across multiple locations in one place
• Create out-of-stock, low-stock, and overstock notifications
• Support automated order placements based on stock levels
• Track inventory shipping from vendors
• Allow importing inventory data for new locations or franchises

Order management

• Process refunds and returns by store credits or money
  Customer management
• Collect customer information and provide point-based loyalty programs
• Enable users to run promotions and discounts across locations

Employee management

• Set access controls for employees and track working shifts

Integration

• Integrate with external apps and services like loyalty, accounting, and CRM

Reporting

• Deliver reports on revenues, profits, returns, average transactions, etc.

Pricing

KORONA POS has the pricing plans as below.

• KORONA POS Core plan: $59/ month for standard business operations
• KORONA POS Retail plan: $69/ month for retailers with higher demands for automation and inventory management

Pros and cons

4. Heartland POS: Best for small and midsized restaurants and retailers

Heartland POS integrated with Global Payments terminals offers more than just payment processing. The cloud POS systems, mainly built for small and midsized restaurateurs and retailers, have many industry-specific features.
With Heartland Restaurant POS, your customers can place orders online, by the table, or on their mobiles and choose order delivery or pickup. The POS automatically balances orders during peak time and syncs order details between the kitchen and servers for error-free order preparation.
Heartland Retail point of sale syncs orders, inventory, and customer information across channels. Besides, this Global Payments POS system also supports built-in CRM and inventory management tools, thus easing business management and improving customer experience.

Key features

Checkout process

• Accept credit, debit cards, online payments, digital wallets, QR codes, etc.
• Enable customers to scan to pay for faster checkout

Restaurant POS

• Let users order online or on mobiles and choose delivery or pickup
• Take tableside orders and payments
• Sync orders, order modifications, and dietary restrictions in real time between the kitchen and front of house
• Balance orders automatically during peak hours
• Support loyalty programs that let users earn and redeem points
• Sync menu updates across channels and locations

Retail POS

• Sync online and offline orders in real time
• Track inventory and build reports for stock balance across channels and locations
• Provide a built-in CRM to help users create customer profiles
• Sync customer data across channels

Employee management

• Set permissions and tip payouts for employees
• Track working time, attendance, breaks, and schedule staff

Reporting

• Create customizable reports updated in real time

Integration and customization

• Integrate with in-house addons or 3rd-party apps and software, including eCommerce, email marketing, delivery services, and customer loyalty programs
• Can run on iPads and work with different hardware

Pricing

Heartland POS starts from $89/ month with Essentials and Complete plans. You need to contact the team for more detailed pricing.

Pros and cons

5. Lightspeed Retail POS: Best for small and midsized cross-channel retailers

Lightspeed Retail POS has established a name for itself as one of the most popular POS systems for retail. The POS empowers you to track cross-location inventory levels, move stocks between stores, automatically replenish stocks, and others to facilitate multi-channel inventory management. It also helps you build and sync customer profiles to run loyalty programs across channels and supply marketing tools to improve customer loyalty and boost sales. Lightspeed Retail POS integrates with Global Payments to offer your customers multiple payment options, including buy now pay later.

Key features

Checkout process

• Handle multiple payment types like credit cards, deposits, buy now, pay later
• Process sales in offline mode

Inventory management

• Track stock levels and SKUs across locations and sales channels
• Allow creating and managing product variants
• Let users order inventory from the POS using built-in purchase orders
• Add product data straight from suppliers to the POS using a B2B Catalog
• Enable changing product prices in bulk across channels

Order management

• Sync sale orders across stores and channels
• Support fulfilling and delivering special orders for customers

Customer management

• Gather customer data on your website or at the checkout counter
• Track purchase history and interactions
• Sync customer information across channels and locations
• Allow setting spending thresholds, tiers, and point multipliers to reward customers
• Offer customers promotions, gift cards, and other omnichannel loyalty programs

Marketing and eCommerce

• Let users create SMS and email campaigns to follow up with customers and boost sales
• Support post-purchase surveys and smart customer segmentation
• Enable product selling on marketplaces, social media, and eCommerce

Reporting

• Provide real-time insights with customizable reports on sales, products, etc.

Integration

• Integrate with 3rd-party ERP systems, accounting software, marketing tools, and card processing service providers like Global Payments

Pricing

Lightspeed Retail POS pricing depends on where your business is and how many registers and locations you have. This Global Payments POS system comes with 4 pricing plans, each of which includes the base plan fee, and extra costs for additional locations and registers.
Let’s see the price differences between 2 businesses in the U.S. that have the same location quantity but different register numbers as below.

Pros and cons

>> Compare: Magestore POS vs Lightspeed POS

6. Talech POS: Best for small and medium retailers and restaurants

Being one of the most versatile Global Payments POS systems, Talech suits numerous business types like cafes, restaurants, and retail. In addition to informing you of the stock levels, this online POS lets you keep products and discounts aligned between locations, bundle products for selling, and quickly add new products using barcodes. Moreover, the POS helps you manage employees with different roles across locations, set staff access to register functions, and track their working hours as well as sales performance.

Key features

Checkout process

• Accept contactless, chip, swipe, and other forms of payments
• Process orders and take cash payments without an Internet connection
• Provide self-serve ordering mode and customer-facing display for quick checkout

Inventory management

• Sync products, discounts, and categories across locations
• Enable users to create product variants and product bundles
• Track stocks in real time and set low-stock alerts
• Run advanced discounts like buy one get one
• Allow adding new products by scanning barcodes

Order management

• Enable full or partial returns and exchanges
• Let users choose to get cash back or store credits
• Handle returns with or without receipts
• Sync orders across devices in real time
• Enable ordering online with QR codes at each table

Customer management

• Collect customer information, including spending and purchase history
• Support digital and physical gift cards, loyalty points, and tiered rewards
• Offer marketing tools to create and execute email marketing campaigns

Employee management

• Manage employees in different roles across locations
• Track working hours, sales performance, and tips
• Manage staff register access to specific functions, including discounts, cash drawers
• Allow users to set overtime rules for accurate wage estimation

Integration

• Integrate with 3rd-party payment systems, including Global Payments, accounting, employee management, and other software

Reporting

• Provide real-time reports on sales and inventory for analysis

Pricing

There are 4 pricing plans for Talech POS software as follows.

• Mobile plan: Free POS software for 100 products and unlimited users
• Starter plan: $29/ month and $29/ month for each additional device for 500 products and unlimited employees.
• Standard plan: $69/ month $29/ month for each additional device for unlimited products and employees.
• Premium plan: $99/ month $29/ month for each additional device for unlimited products and employees.

Pros and cons

7. Epos Now: Best for small hospitality businesses and retailers

Epos Now POS works with Global Payments terminals to give your customers diversified payment options. The POS has a wide array of features to help small businesses improve their operational efficiency for revenue growth. Epos Now’s retail POS system enables you to manage inventory across channels and locations and keep order and customer data consistent between channels. In addition, this Global Payments POS has many features tailored to food service providers like tableside ordering, kitchen display systems, and floor management.

Key features

Checkout process

• Accept contactless payments, Google Pay, Apple Pay, and other payment types
• Offer an in-house Epos Now Payments whose card payments processing fee is 2.6% + 0.10c

Retail POS

• Manage inventory across sales channels and store locations
• Update, import, and manage products with barcodes
• Count stocks automatically in real time and support item bundling
• Create low-inventory notifications and enable automatic purchase orders
• Track and centralize online and offline orders
• Support click and collect and delivery

Hospitality POS

• Manage orders, deliveries, and collections from a single place
• Allow users to choose delivery or click and collect
• Enable table ordering and payments
• Manage floor plans in real time
• Sync orders between the front and back of house with the kitchen display system
• Integrate with online ordering for a complete view
• Track inventory in real time and manage stocks between locations

Customer management

• Update and sync customer profiles across channels
• Provide loyalty programs and promotions
• Allow shoppers to redeem loyalty points they obtain online right in stores

Reporting

• Generate many reports to get insights about promotions, products, employee performance, etc.

Integration

• Integrate with 3rd-party payment processors, delivery apps, eCommerce platforms, etc.

Pricing

Epos Now pricing starts from $349. The complete POS solution includes:

• POS software
• Built-in printer
• Card machine
• Terminal

Pros and cons

>> Compare: Magestore POS vs Epos Now POS

The top priority to choose the best Global Payments POS is the point of sale integration capability. Make sure the POS of your choice works well with the Global Payments terminals to process payments smoothly and rapidly, avoiding any risks of business disruptions.

Then, there are other factors at play in determining which POS is the best fit for your business, including your business needs, types, sizes, and budgets. Your ideal POS should be the one that has all the necessary features for your business to operate effectively without exceeding your budget limits. It’s worth noting that a POS system includes different types of fees, so you‘d better take all possible costs into account before making a final decision.

For example, while retailers can choose Magestore POS, KORONA POS, or Lightspeed Retail, restaurateurs can go with more industry-specific restaurant POS systems like Global Payments Restaurant POS, Heartland Restaurant, or Epos Now.

Is Global Payments legit?

Yes, Global Payments is legit. It’s an American multinational company that provides safe and secure payment technology and financial services to global merchants and consumers by ensuring PCI compliance and employing tokenization, encryption, and more. The company has about 60 years in business with 4.6 million customers in 100+ countries and these numbers are still increasing.

Is Global Payments a Fortune 500 company?

Yes, Global Payments has joined the Fortune 500 since June 2021.

How to integrate Magestore POS with Global Payments?

You can follow our detailed instructions to integrate Magestore POS with Global Payments. In case you’re short of time or technical resources, you can entrust our support team with the integration work.

POS and terminal compatibility

There are several ways to check the compatibility between your POS system and a payment terminal:

• Check the POS provider’s website or documentation for a list of compatible payment terminals. For example, Magestore has listed Square as a compatible terminal on their website.
• Contact the POS provider directly if you can’t find a list of compatible terminals
• Check the payment terminal manufacturer’s website to find a list of compatible POS systems

Since Square does not publish a list of compatible POS software on their website, we recommend you check with your POS provider.

Streamlined inventory management

The POS should help you manage inventory effectively across sales channels and locations.

• Create and manage orders
• Update inventory levels across channels in real time
• Transfer stocks between stores
• Adjust inventory quantity
• Manage stocks with barcodes
• Have automatic low-stock notifications

Real-time data syncs across channels

• Sync customer data: customer profile, purchase history, loyalty program, etc.
• Sync products: product information like names, descriptions, images, variations, etc., inventory level, and pricing and promotions
• Sync orders: customer info such as name, address, contact details, etc., order details, and order status

Customer management

Your POS should integrate and sync customer data captured at the Square terminal with their online data to streamline the buying experience:

• Customer profiles
• Purchase history across channels
• Loyalty programs

Reports and analytic tools

To evaluate your business growth and make prompt and data-driven adjustments, your POS should provide you with a diverse array of POS reports regarding:

• Sales: Track daily, weekly, and monthly performance. Analyze sales by product, brand, supplier, and more
• Employees: Monitor individual sales performance, work hours, and commissions
• Inventory: Maintain clear visibility into on-hand stock, stock movement, and incoming inventory

Bonus points

• eCommerce integration: Integrate with online stores to centralize customer and inventory data for a seamless shopping experience
• Cross-device flexibility: The POS should work well on iPads, Android tablets, PCs, and Macs.
• Scalability and customizability: Look for a POS system that can connect with third-party apps to expand functionalities. And remember to check if the POS allows you to add new features or custom workflows tailored to your needs.

Here’s a comprehensive comparison table of 8 POS software programs that integrate seamlessly with Square.

1. Square POS and Square for Retail: Suitable for startups and small businesses with simple needs

Square Point of Sale provides merchants with basic features to handle online orders and inventory, reach customers, and manage staff.

Square for Retail is a comprehensive POS solution with more advanced features than the Square Point of Sale to help retailers run their businesses more efficiently, such as intuitive inventory management and smart reporting.

Key features

Register and checkout

• Various payment options: cash, contactless, chip, Cash App, buy now pay later (Afterpay), card on file, gift cards, check, etc.

Order management

• Accept online orders for in-store or curbside pickup
• Easily issue a refund and adjust stock levels

Inventory management

• Upload unlimited items
• Track inventory in real time across locations and online stores
• Set low-stock alert notifications
• View inventory reporting and forecasting
• Only in Plus subscription of Square for Retail: add and transfer stock across locations in bulk, create and print different label sizes, automatic stock adjustments, and more

Customer management

• Auto-created customer profile, customer group, and custom fields in all plans

Team management

• Unlimited personal passcodes, time tracking, timecard reporting, and multiple wage rates
• Customizable permission sets are available only in Advanced Access (from $35/month).

Reporting

• Sales reports are available for all plans.

Pros and cons

Pricing

Best use case

• Square Point of Sale is suitable if you sell some items or services or just want a simple online ordering platform to start your business.
• Square for Retail is for omnichannel retailers or those wishing to manage more operations.

Expanding businesses often look for an alternative Square POS integration because they require a complete solution to run their industry-specific operations, such as handling a complex matrix of ingredients, processed items, and special orders.

2. Magestore: Scalable POS for omnichannel retailers of all sizes

If you’re looking for Square POS integrations for Magento, Magestore Magento POS, a Square partner, should be at the top of the list. This Square POS integration not only has robust built-in functionality but also a strong ability to customize and integrate with 3rd-party services, including Square and other payment service providers. This makes the POS an optimal choice for retailers of all sizes, especially those wishing to elevate the customer experience and expand business in the future.

Magestore also develops a Shopify POS with impressive functions at affordable prices dedicated to Shopify merchants. In addition to syncing inventory and offering omnichannel loyalty programs, the point of sale (POS) functions smoothly with Shopify and is compatible with tablets and desktop computers. This Square POS integration for Shopify also supports fast checkouts, refunds, discounts, and employee management.

Key features

Fast checkout process

• Create and process orders in seconds, from just 1 dashboard
• Offer flexible payment methods for your customers, including cash, debit and credit cards, gift cards, store credits, reward points, split payments, layaway, buy now pay later, etc.
• Provide customer-facing display and self-checkout option for quick checkout

Order management

• Offer omnichannel order fulfillment options such as store pickup, buy in-store ship to door, and create orders online and pay at store, etc.
• Support returns, refunds, and exchanges

Inventory management

• Manage inventory across locations and channels
• Utilize barcodes and a bin system to manage inventory and product catalogs
• Move inventory between stores and warehouses and count stock with ease
• Sync inventory data across channels in real time
• Create purchase orders based on product threshold setting

Customer experience

• Run omnichannel loyalty schemes with gift cards, store credits, and reward points
• Sync customer data from online and offline channels in real time for consistent shopping experiences

Employee management

• Grant the right permissions for your staff to complete their tasks: admins, cashiers, location login, etc.
• Oversee sales performance, employee work schedules, commissions, and record salespeople’s names on receipts

Reporting and analysis

• Provide live and comprehensive reports about inventory visibility, daily sales, cash flows, order status, customers, employees, etc.
• You can apply multiple filters to get preferable results and export the reports for thorough analysis.

Integration and customization

• Already integrated with Square Terminal
• Integrate with other 3rd-party services providers, including other payment terminals (Worldpay, Adyen, Stripe, Tyro, Paypal), marketplaces (Amazon, eBay, Etsy), accounting (Xero, QuickBooks), ERP (NetSuite, SAP), shipment (ShipStation, FedEx), etc. to enrich the POS functions
• Compatible with most popular hardware: cash drawers, receipt printers, barcode scanners, iPads, PCs, Macs, and Android tablets
• Easy to scale and customize to your evolving requirements

Others

• Run on any device and work well in offline mode
• Respect PCI guidelines to store sensitive data securely

Pros and cons

Pricing

Best use case

• Startups and small retailers can use the simple POS for Magento or Shopify POS.
• Multi-store and omnichannel retailers of medium and large sizes can opt for the robust Magento 2 POS.

3. Loyverse POS: Free POS for small retail stores and restaurants

With Loyverse POS, users can manage inventory, visualize sales analytics, and manage customer relationships. Quick-service restaurants can benefit greatly from the free KDS (kitchen display system) feature, and small food-based retailers can benefit from the system’s inventory tools, which include variants and real-time tracking. However, Loyverse POS lacks features for full-service restaurants and tools to manage specialized industry regulations.

Key features

Inventory management

• Bulk import and export product information
• Track inventory and receive low-stock notifications
• Create purchase orders and track stock receipts
• Transfer stock across stores
• See inventory valuation and analytics

Sales analytics

• View reports on sales trends, employee’s sales performance, popular items, and taxes

Loyalty programs

• Implement a points reward program
• Request feedback from customers
• Write notes about individual customers

Restaurant features

• Create predefined tickets for table management
• Print bills or pre-receipts
• Specify dining options like dine-in, take-out, delivery
• Display kitchen orders on a screen

Retail features

• Scan barcodes with the camera (iOS only)
• Manage product variants
• Display orders on a separate customer display tablet

Pros and cons

Pricing

• Free POS with basic functionalities such as adding items, making sales, creating and applying discounts, taxes, modifiers, etc.
• Offer optional addons for monthly subscriptions with a 14-day free trial:

Best use case

• Quick-service restaurants and small food-based retailers
• Businesses that want a built-in loyalty program (food and beverage sellers, fashion and beauty retailers, supply stores, etc.)
• Small businesses with basic operations