What chip and pin facilty for bar/restaurant?

luwpergwin

Hello,

We are a small business with 5 licensed premises and are currently updating our over the counter card payment facilities and wish to change to chip and pin (we have the old paper roll signature modules).

The old modules are supplied by Streamline.

Can anyone recommend a good chip and pin company with a competitive rental rate. Any experiences with reliability and good service? Premises are busy town centre bars.

Thank you in advance.:beer:

Luw

Savvy_Sue

I've just done a search of this board for chip pin and find we haven't talked about it as recently as I first thought, however a quick skim of those threads while you wait for someone to come along with current ideas may be helpful.

I suspect this is one of those areas which has no 'one size fits all' answer, so whatever anyone suggests you will need to do your own research to make sure it meets your business needs.

martindow

We use Cardsave
http://www.cardsave.net/
who use Streamline but offered better rates than going directly. As you are already with Streamline this might not be possible for you to sign up again via Cardsave. The monthly rental is the same but the percentages on card transactions are better and there are various perks like cheap rates for parcel deliveries.

We have found Cardsave to be very helpful in sorting problems and speaking to Streamline on our behalf. They know who to talk to directly rather than battling past the help desk!

I'm surprised that you are not required to have Chip and Pin and have had your terminals updated. I thought that the card companies now insisted on this.

Hope you find something suitable.

bestyman

Hi all,
I have been a self employed plumber many years doing mostly emergency repairs. At present I use a personal account for paying cheques in ( had a bad credit file but kept nose clean for 6 years so now ok ).

Im in no hurry to dash out and open a business account as I have not paid a penny in charges for the last 6 years but a lot of customers , especially the younger ones look at me like im from mars when I tell them we dont take visa. They then spent 20 minutes looking for a brand new cheque book and sometimes even ask me how you fill one in.

So what Im looking for is a way to take Visa and maestro. I would be at the customers house so not sure how this would work.

I know I could simply open a bussiness account with say the HSBC etc and they would happily set me up for a large fee but I am looking for a cheaper option. I estimate I would probably take 6 payments of £100 per week.

Thanks in advance.

nickswift

how about setting up a paypal account and getting them to pay you online? there is still commision involved, but it would be a cheap way of accepting all cards.... i'm sure it would impress the youngsters if you say you accept online payments for credit cards.

Savvy_Sue

Although you are asking about Chip and Pin in a different situation to the one luwpergwin enquired about, I've merged these threads as my suggestion of searching remains the same - I know mobile chip and pin has been covered, although I don't know what the 'best' offers would be these days.

If you are a member of a professional body, it's worth asking them - there are sometimes discounts to be had which make the cost of membership a real bargain!

PS I'd only accept online payments if the person went and made the payment there and then! If they can't do it "until they get to work" or because "my laptop's not working at the moment" I'd offer to drive them to the cashpoint! However, that's obviously less than ideal.

But I do appreciate the problem: DS1 did finally get a cheque book, but I'm not sure he's ever used it, despite me pointing out how useful it would be if I didn't have to find mine every time he needed a cheque.

chrisyc

Do streamline not do chip and pin? You might be able to get a deal..

bestyman

Thanks, I will send off the form to Streamline and see what the charges are . They dont tell the full story on the website other than its £27 a month for the mobile terminal over 36 months.

Has anyone had experience of applying ? Is there a credit check and how difficult is it to pass?
Im using a co op cashminder account for my bussiness which I suppose dosnt look very good.

trevor_john

I use streamline and have 2 terminals both mobile.I turnover around £16000 per month.The hire charge is £83 per QUARTER for EACH terminal.The commision on mine that is charged by streamline works out at appros 30p per transaction for debit cards and 1.95% for credit cards.

The one off set up fee was around £300 ..BUT if you are a member of the
F.S.B. (Federation of small business) which costs £100 per year with loads of benefits then the streamline set up charge is FREE !!!

Hope this helps.
Trevor

Savvy_Sue

trevor_john wrote: »

The one off set up fee was around £300 ..BUT if you are a member of the
F.S.B. (Federation of small business) which costs £100 per year with loads of benefits then the streamline set up charge is FREE !!!

had a feeling there was something like that available, just couldn't remember who it was with!

trevor_john

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

had a feeling there was something like that available, just couldn't remember who it was with!

The best thing is that when you set it up and mention the F.S.B. thats all you do.The girl i spoke to said "They are the magic words " FSB that is.They do not check anything at all. :T :T :T