The Clover POS by First Data is arguably the most aesthetically pleasing system on the market. With it's sleek design, and multi-functional capabilities, it's no wonder why many merchants are accepting it into their businesses. Let's be honest too, virtually every bank First Data has it's hand's in is pushing it to their business clientele.
*Major Financial (Bank) Institutions currently offering the Clover POS include Wells Fargo, Citibank, Bank of America, Chase Bank, Suntrust to name a few - not to mention ISO reseller channels.
Currently, merchants that own the Clover POS in any of it's solutions can be categorized in 2 groups; The Lovers, and the Haters. As slick as this POS is, it's not the best solution for a variety of businesses. For instance, high volume restaurant environments complain that it's not robust enough due to it's tablet-like processor and app functionality. On the other hand, Quick-Serve restaurants (QSR) love it for it's simplicity in café-style ordering which happens to be a growing trend in the food industry now.
There is one downside to owning this system. It's a locked POS which means if you have one, or you're looking into getting one in the near future, you have only one choice of processor which happens to be First Data. It's a proprietary piece of equipment to your service provider (Bank or ISO/MSP). If you make a switch on merchant services, it becomes a paper weight. A very expensive paper weight. Not even other First Data merchant service providers can currently reprogram this system. You'll be forced to invest in another one. Well, at least that was the case.
Heartland Payment Systems has just announced a work-around to this predicament. According to the IT gurus, they have developed an APP that installs a "Heartland" tender key to Clover which alters the transaction flow. It requires an Ingenico ICT220 EMV terminal that can be connected via USB to the Clover.
This is good news for restaurant merchants in particular. Heartland happens to be one of the core processors exclusively endorsed by the National Restaurant Association, and among the many restaurant state associations as well. If there's any reason to look into switching, lower rates and better customer service appear to be the most common factors. There will be other processors developing similar apps to meet this demand, but for now it seems Heartland is the only core processor that has accomplished this work-around for merchants who loved the Clover, but couldn't get away from their First Data processor for whatever reason that may be.
Merchant Intelligence Report will research whether or not First Data or Heartland are a great fit for you. Our relationship with all the core processors allows us to achieve the best rates, lowest fees, and get you access to virtually any credit card processing terminal or POS of your choice. Contact us today for a free consultation.
Posted on 08/28/2017 at 11:45 AM
