New Lower Cost Terminal Option from Card Defender and Heartland

Quick Update: Card Defender is no longer available for Microsoft RMS unless you are a beer, wine, or liquor store that will be moving to the Cloud Retailer point of sale software in the near future. 

I wanted to let folks know that Card Defender now has a lower cost terminal with a larger screen available for the Card Defender EMV/Chip Card solution for the Microsoft RMS point of sale software.

Exclusively available through Heartland for the time being, the PAX PX5 terminal features a larger screen than other Card Defender terminals and a lower cost as Heartland will be providing the terminal instead of Card Defender providing the terminal.  This means that only the Card Defender software and labor chargers for installation and remote training will apply - making for an over cost reduction of around $100 - $200 per terminal depending on what your Heartland rep would like to offer you.  Here is what the terminal looks like (please ignore the sample screen images as these are stock images from PAX):

Card Defender will continue to offer processor agnostic terminals as well for RMS which are slightly more expensive but also allow you to pick, choose and change which company you use for merchant services.

As always, please contact me at 208-340-5632 or kevinantosh@gmail.com with any questions or clarifications.

Card Defender Checklist

Quick Update: Card Defender is no longer available for Microsoft RMS unless you are a beer, wine, or liquor store that will be moving to the Cloud Retailer point of sale software in the near future. 

Wow - fresh off some new installs in Idaho, Colorado and Utah and I've had multiple people email and call me about the Card Defender EMV/Chip Card add-on for the Microsoft Dynamics RMS point of sale software.

As I've already posted some information about Card Defender and links to videos showing how Card Defender works with RMS, here is a checklist related to some of the Card Defender options and requirements:

• Cabled Ethernet or Wireless? 

I strongly recommend cabled for security reasons - just make sure that you have a router or switch near where the terminal will be placed.

• Available electrical outlet near where the terminal will be placed?

Terminal should be plugged in to a good quality surge suppressor, line conditioner, battery back-up or similar device.

• Do you want to accept NFC/contact-less payments like Apple Pay and Google Wallet?

• Do you need to accept pin based debit?

• What company do you use for merchant services/credit card processing services? 

Has to be Heartland, First Data or TSYS - keep in mind that the companies name does not matter as much as who they use for processing.

• What version of the Microsoft RMS software are you using? 

Has to be RMS version 1.3 or higher.

• How many check out lanes do you have?

• Are you using Microsoft RMS HQ? 

Card Defender works with HQ - just some extra setup steps to complete so the data sync's correctly.

• Are you using any add-ons for RMS like e-commerce or customer loyalty programs? 

This normally does not effect Card Defender but better to check ahead of time.

• Are you also taking phone or mail orders that require entering the payment information by hand? 

This requires some thoughts as to whether to use a Card Defender terminal  or not for manually entered payments and how this would effect the batch and close out process.

As a reminder, Card Defender is the only EMV/Chip Card solution for Microsoft RMS (that I am aware of) that is processor agnostic, does not have any additional per-transaction fees, and does not have any contracts at all.

Always, contact me at kevinantosh@gmail.com or 208-340-5632 with any questions or comments.

Mixed Greens Expands

Wanted to say thanks to the folks at Mixed Greens in Boise, ID for trusting myself, and the team at RITE, to help them upgrade to the most current version of the Microsoft RMS point of sale software and adding additional checkout lanes in a new expanded location.

I've worked with Mixed Greens for 6 plus years and its great to see a retail business needing to add space and check out lanes to accommodate customers.  Mixed Greens has an excellent assortment of products and easy access for both foot and vehicle traffic.

We added 2 RMS check out lanes to accommodate the growth and also upgraded the existing check out lane to the most current version of RMS.

Be sure to check out their store at 9th Street and West Idaho Street or by visiting their website at http://www.ilikemixedgreens.com/ . I'll also try and get some pictures of the larger space that Mixed Greens will be using at least through the 2016 holiday season - I've already found some cool products to use as Christmas gifts.