Luke Judge

And so can you. a couple of new products could democratize the credit card industry, by enabling pretty much anyone with a smartphone to accept plastic. I’ve been experimenting with these new devices — Square and PayAnywhere — and I’m happy to report that not a lot of tinkering was required. With either of them you can quickly begin collecting credit card payments from friends and neighbors — or more likely, from clients and customers.

Millions of Americans run small businesses, full or part time. Millions more sell items at flea markets and garage sales. but many shy away from taking credit cards because of the complexity and expense of setting up merchant accounts and obtaining the card-swiping equipment.

Well, that’s over now.

Completing the setup takes a couple of days. Square must first confirm your identity the same way PayPal does — by making two small deposits into your checking account. Go to your bank’s website, write down the deposit amounts, then type them in at the Square website to confirm your account.

Now you’re ready to collect some cash. As payments start rolling in, Square will transfer the money to your bank account, generally within two days.

Now you need the right app for your smartphone.

PayAnywhere, also free, works only with Apple products for now, but versions for Android and BlackBerry phones are on the way.

And how about a device that lets you swipe credit cards, just like they do downtown?

Square will send you one for free, an appropriately cube-shaped device that plugs into the headphone jack.

PayAnywhere offers a black plastic cradle that wraps around an iPhone; it costs $19.95. You can also type in credit card numbers. but having a credit card swiper is faster and easier and just looks cool.

Install the apps and you’re ready for business. If you’re selling an object, you can photograph it and add the image to your invoice. the programs also let you create preset inventories, with prices and photos of items you regularly sell.

Square and PayAnywhere make their profit by taking a little of yours.

Square charges 2.75 percent of the value of the transaction, plus 15 cents, while PayAnywhere charges 2.69 percent plus 19 cents.

For a $100 sale, you would collect $97.10 with Square or $97.12 with PayAnywhere.

The fees go up significantly if you enter the credit card numbers by hand, because there is an increased risk of fraud.

On the other hand, neither company charges you a dime until you actually use the service. There are no monthly fees, so it’s worth your while to sign up, even if you use the service only once or twice a year.

Once the card is accepted, the phone’s touchscreen turns into a signature pad. Have your customer scrawl his name with his finger, and you’re done.

You can have a receipt e-mailed to the buyer, and you get an invoice with a picture of the sold item.

Both apps connect to the phone’s GPS chip and generate a map to show where the deal was done, an excellent feature for plumbers, snowplow operators, and other mobile business folk.

I get around quite a bit myself, and while I don’t really expect any of you to hand over your Visa cards, I’ll be ready if you do.

© Copyright 2011 Globe Newspaper Company.

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PRINCETON, N.J., Apr 28, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) –Gift cards can be a substantial source of revenue for restaurants, and now, National Restaurant Association members and state restaurant association members have a new option for maximizing their bottom-line impact with innovative gift marketing strategies. The National Restaurant Association, Council of State Restaurant Associations and the vast majority of state restaurant associations have added Heartland Gift Marketing(SM) to their growing lists of exclusively endorsed business solutions offered by Heartland Payment Systems, one of the nation’s largest payments processors.

In January, the National Restaurant Association, state restaurant associations and Heartland entered into a strategic alliance to enhance the business operations of restaurateurs by delivering the industry’s first-ever unified payments processing platform. The Council of State Restaurant Associations joined the partnership in February, and currently 41 state restaurant associations are on board, demonstrating the strength of the alliance and its importance to the industry.

The partnership’s “Full Course Business Solutions(SM)” initially launched with exclusively endorsed card processing, payroll services, tip management and check management solutions. Adding gift marketing to Full Course empowers restaurateurs to leverage traditional gift cards to promote their businesses, grow their customer base and their revenue. Operators can take advantage of customized programs built around their current marketing efforts, customer demographics and budget. Low start-up costs and a cost-effective pricing structure make Heartland’s gift marketing solution affordable for restaurants of all sizes.

“Our gift marketing solution has the power to significantly increase a restaurant’s bottom line. Unlike traditional gift card programs, Heartland Gift Marketing utilizes a multi-faceted, consultative marketing approach that effectively drives top-line revenue,” said Bob Carr, Heartland’s chairman and chief executive officer. “Seamless integration with the first-ever unified payments processing platform makes our program easy-to-implement and enables restaurateurs to rely on a single provider for even more business solutions.”

“The National Restaurant Association is about creating opportunity and improving profitability for this industry,” said Dawn Sweeney, president and CEO of the National Restaurant Association. “Our goal is to help our members reach even higher levels of success. Heartland Payment Systems’ excellent programs will enable restaurants to create efficiencies to directly benefit their bottom line.”

Full Course is supported by Heartland’s national sales and servicing organization of 1,800 professionals located in communities across America and its 1,600 service, information technology and administrative employees.

Heartland and the associations will continue to expand Full Course’s products and services as they develop solutions to address critical industry issues and advocate for restaurateurs. To learn more, visit GoFullCourse.com.

Heartland offers a variety of other integrated products and services including online payments, point-of-sale systems, data management solutions and more. Its end-to-end encryption solution — E3(TM) — is designed to protect cardholder data throughout the entire lifecycle of a payments transaction from the moment of card swipe to the card brands — helping business owners improve data security and reduce the cost of PCI compliance.

About Heartland Payment Systems

Heartland Payment Systems /quotes/comstock/13*!hpy/quotes/nls/hpy (HPY 18.38