When small business owners are trying to decide if they should buy or rent their PDQ machines, it’s always a good idea to review how they work, their benefits, and how much they cost. PDQ machines are an important piece of hardware that every store’s point-of-sale system needs to have to accept credit card or debit card payments. No matter what card machine is used, it’s easy to understand how they work.
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What impact does the PDQ machine have on payments?
PDQ stands for Process Data Quickly. This is a quick way to make and receive POS payments in the blink of an eye. The PDQ machine is just a machine that reads a credit or debit card and asks for a PIN to ensure that the person using the card is also the card owner. This kind of machine is also called a Chip and PIN machine.
Before there were PDQ terminals, there were card terminals. The security of these terminals depended on the store employee comparing the signature on the back of the debit card to the signature on the receipt that had just been signed. Even though it was the best at the time, this method is not very safe now that we have Chip and PINs.
What kinds of PDQ machines are available
There are three main kinds of PDQ machines that are made to meet the needs of your business:
- Countertop: The traditional PDQ machine “sits on the counter” in a designated payment area. They are the most common type of PDQ terminal because they have been around the longest. You can find them most often in grocery stores and gas stations.
- Portable: Using Bluetooth technology, these PDQ terminals can connect to a main unit in the store. The secondary units can be turned into wireless PDQ machines, which let employees process payments away from the counter. They can bring the PDQ to the customer, reducing the time customers have to wait and making the till less crowded. The best solution for restaurants and bars that are always busy.
- Mobile: Mobile PDQ machines are the latest version of PDQ terminals. They allow merchants to accept debit cards anywhere there is WiFi or 3G/4G/5G mobile data coverage. Bringing the POS to the customer becomes as mobile as your phone. This wireless point of sale is easy for traveling sole traders, pop-up stores, trade shows, and taxi drivers.
A PDQ terminal handles payment methods.
PDQ machines are made to accept many different kinds of payments, including new ones that are becoming more and more popular.
The Chip and PIN
All PDQ machines let you pay with a Classic card; just put the card in and enter the PIN. UK Finance’s UK Payment Markets 2021 report says that more than half of all payments in the UK are made with debit and credit cards. A basic Chip and PIN PDQ machine lets businesses get a piece of an $18.5 billion payment pie.
Contactless
In the UK, a quarter of all payments will be contactless by 2020. Compared to 2016, when only 7% of payments were made, we see a huge increase, likely due to the pandemic. All over the country, NFC-capable terminals that accept contactless payments are being added to standard PDQ machines.
Mobile payment apps
Don’t have your debit or credit card? Thanks to apps like Apple Pay and Google Pay, people can now pay for things with their phones using the NFC feature of PDQ machines. UK Finance says that by 2020, one-third of adults will use mobile payment apps. Since their use is growing among people aged 16–34, having an NFC-capable PDQ terminal is necessary.
Why accept card payments?
According to UK Finance, there were 1.9 billion debit card transfers and 317 million card transactions in October 2021. Isn’t that a lot? So, if you don’t accept card payments yet, you might be losing sales.
In addition:
- It could make your service go faster and cut down on lines.
- It’s more secure and safer than dealing with cash.
- It provides your customers with a wider range of ways to pay you.
- Your customers can pay you up to £100 with just a tap.
- It could get people to spend more money with you.
Benefits for small businesses of picking the right PDQ machine
Chip-based PDQ terminals give you and your customers the highest level of security. They also protect you from credit card fraud, which is very common. Having a PDQ machine at your business is good for more than just security. Cash use has been decreasing steadily, and contactless and mobile payments are starting to replace cash for small purchases, making a cashless future possible.
- Security and safety: Credit card payments are safe, and not having a lot of cash on hand reduces the risk of robbery, counterfeiting, and theft from within.
- Customer expectations: PDQ machines let you meet customer expectations in terms of how they want to pay, which makes it more likely that they will come back.
- Streamlined operations: if you have a PDQ machine that can be used on the go, you can avoid crowds at the cash register, process payments quickly, and move quickly through lines. The fastest way to get paid is with a card or a mobile payment app.
- Autonomy: PDQs are no longer big, fixed devices that sit on the counter. Newer options, like the SumUp Solo, offer a light mobile device with a battery that lasts all day and is easy to connect to.
- Affordability: PDQ machines used to be sold by banks for some fees, which made them harder for small businesses to get. Today, solutions like SumUp’s Air offer all the necessary features to take your business to the next level without breaking your budget.
Conclusion
Small businesses need PDQ machines because traditional and non-contact card payments are on the rise, and cash is becoming less and less common. Traditional PDQ terminals let you pay with a chip and PIN, but businesses all over the country are replacing them with new ones that can use NFC. This gives customers more ways to pay.