Some small business owners are looking to new resources to save money on merchant services fees to better compete with larger companies. Thanks to emerging technologies such as mobile payment readers, entrepreneurs have been able to save money and serve customers using credit or debit cards.
One product that has gained some popularity is the Square system, a cube shaped reader that can attach to mobile devices to swipe cards. A 2.75 percent rate is paid per transaction, which, while still not inexpensive, is cheaper than some rates charged for traditional payment methods.
Payment consultant Eric Grover told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune that the system could allow businesses that had never been able to accept credit cards to do so for the first time.
"They're extending the existing system to potentially millions of very small merchants - piano teachers, plumbers, electricians ... somebody who in the past would take cash or check," Grover said.
Square, which was started by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, recently made other headlines after it announced that more than 1 million businesses were using its platform.
