Skip to main content
#
Shaw Merchant Group

#1 PayAnywhere PAX E700 Smart POS+

The PayAnywhere Smart POS+ includes everything merchants need to manage, grow and optimize their business, all in a compact point of sale system that’s easy to set up and use. PayAnywhere Smart POS+’ key components include an intuitive touchscreen tablet, EMV/NFC-enabled payment device, and robust software featuring powerful inventory management, reporting and marketing tools.

  • A 12.5” touchscreen with Android software.
  • An EMV chip card, NFC contactless, and magstripe reader.
  • Front and back cameras for easy barcode scanning.
  • A 4.3" customer facing touchscreen.
  • Cash drawer connectivity.
  • Built-in thermal printer with 3.14”-wide receipt paper.
  • Multiple accessory ports.
  • 4G and wifi connectivity.
  • Comes preloaded with the Payanywhere app!
  • Free placement means no upfront cost. (Watch PAX E700 Video)

The Payanywhere Smart POS+ is the ideal solution for merchants who want full POS functionality in a sleek and compact design.

#1 E700 Smart POS+

The PayAnywhere Smart POS+ includes everything merchants need to manage, grow and optimize their business, all in a compact point of sale system that’s easy to set up and use. PayAnywhere Smart POS+’ key components include an intuitive touchscreen tablet, EMV/NFC-enabled payment device, and robust software featuring powerful inventory management, reporting and marketing tools.

Transform your countertop with the space-saving, tablet-based point of sale designed for your storefront.

  • A 12.5” touchscreen with Android software.
  • An EMV chip card, NFC contactless, and magstripe reader.
  • Front and back cameras for easy barcode scanning.
  • A 4.3" customer facing touchscreen.
  • Cash drawer connectivity.
  • Built-in thermal printer with 3.14”-wide receipt paper.
  • Multiple accessory ports.
  • 4G and wifi connectivity.
  • Comes preloaded with the Payanywhere app!
  • Free placement means no upfront cost.

The Payanywhere Smart POS+ is the ideal solution for merchants who want full POS functionality in a sleek and compact design.

Health and Beauty Salon Credit Card Processing Service and Terminals
Tuesday, April 11 2023

Give your business a makeover with health and beauty merchant services.

Independent health and beauty business owners, employees, and customers love our simplified payment processing services.

How do I choose a merchant services provider?

When it comes to finding the right merchant services partner for your independent health and beauty business, there are a number of things you’ll want to consider. After all, you’re not just looking for beauty industry payment processing, you want a partner you can count on — one who is committed to the success of your business. We offer so much more than just secure and affordable credit card processing, we give you access to easy-to-use analytics! That’s data you can use to make smarter, data-driven business decisions, while helping you more effectively manage your:

  • Customers.
  • Inventory.
  • Employees.
  • Chargebacks and more.

How? Through our proprietary payments app (compatible with both Apple and Android devices), payment processing equipment, and Payments Hub, our secure online merchant portal.

We know the beauty industry inside and out.

Whether you’re running a skincare or hair and beauty business, you’re a salon owner, a perfume merchant, or your business model is something else entirely, we’ve got the merchant services you need to accept credit cards and increase your sales. We’re a full-service partner for beauty industry payment processing — one with a proven track record of helping health and beauty merchants get the solutions they need to grow their businesses.

Flexible payment solutions for beauty businesses.

Choose from two unique themes.

Use Terminal theme to mirror a traditional credit card terminal. For item libraries, stock tracking, and open tabs, use Retail theme.

Email, text, or print receipts.

Provide customers with digital or printed receipts while maintaining a customer directory.

Accept offline transactions.

Accept payments even when you have a weak/limited or no internet connection.

Pick the pricing that suits your beauty business.

We’ll do more than just give you a great low rate. We can customize a pricing plan for your specific health and beauty business that allows you to make more money on every transaction.

Accept payments even when you have a weak/limited or no internet connection.

Beautiful customer, employee, and inventory management.

Simplify your back-office tasks both in the Payanywhere app and Payments Hub, our secure, online merchant portal.

Manage your inventory.

Track products from the moment they arrive until they leave in the hands of your customers.

  • Build a cloud-based product library.
  • Easily track your inventory.
  • Set low-stock alerts.

Manage your employees.

Our employee management tools allow you to do it all. 

  • Add and manage employees with unique roles and customizable levels of access.
  • Generate performance reports on individuals or groups of employees.
  • Additional employee management features are available through our partnership with Homebase.

Manage your customers.

Gain valuable insights into the behavior of your customers.

  • Who spends the most.
  • Who your most frequent visitors are.
  • Who is a first-time visitor.

You can even encourage customer feedback by asking your patrons to rate their experiences on your email and text receipts.

The start of something beautiful.

Whatever products and services you offer at your independent health and beauty business, SMG has a payment solution to fit your business perfectly. We’ll offer you payment devices that are as beautiful as they are functional — our proprietary Smart Solutions. Plus, you’ll get free access to our Virtual Terminal that you can use as a backup payment device. Since we own our own processor, we can even provide industry-best uptimes and one point of contact for customer care and technical support. 

Give your salon or spa a competitive edge.

Take advantage of Flat Rate Pricing and Cash Discount with our innovative Edge Program! It allows you to secure one low rate on every transaction while also allowing you to add a Cash Discount for non-card users.

Best Free Credit Card Processing Machine Available for Food Trucks
Saturday, April 08 2023

For a lot of people, being self-employed is their ultimate dream. They'd love to throw off the shackles of the office and travel around serving people who share their passion for whatever it is that they're selling. Of course, it helps if what you are selling is part of a booming business, and the food industry is certainly growing. While other markets contracted during recent recessions, both the restaurant and the food truck business have seen a rise in sales, as people have become more and more interested in convenience. This is a great time to be in the business of food trucks!

So, chances are, if you've just started a food truck business, the sales have been rolling in more or less steadily. Hungry customers are flocking around your mobile restaurant, eager to sample your dishes in the middle of whichever random parking lot you're serving today. You hand them the food, and they hand you cold, hard wads of cash in return...except when they don't.

“Oh, I'm sorry,” says one of your customers, her tone apologetic, if a bit nasally. “Do you take cards?”

That is the question, isn't it? Well, do you? Nowadays, cashless is the way, and if you're only relying on the old locked metal cash box with a couple of rolls of coins thrown in, you're probably missing out on a lot of potential sales. Yes, you can just get an old school stand-alone credit card machine and try to keep track of a million sheets of receipt paper (“Merchant's Copy!”) like they did back in the days when people need to swipe their little magnetic strips—but things are a lot different now, and in the complicated society that we live in, you're going to want a point of sale system to keep track of sales—both cash and electronic—and to give you some idea of what kind of inventory you used up. The more volume you expect to sell, the more urgent it is to have a POS.

Now, maybe all of the dirty specifics are what have you procrastinating and leaving that old school “cash only” sign outside your window. Maybe you're just confused. Maybe you don't know which POS to choose for your business. Luckily for you, we're about to clarify things a little; let's take a look at the best POS systems, what they can do, and whether they might work for your business:

Square

This is the most bare-bones, simple solution if you're looking for the function of a POS without having to learn a complicated interface or pay a huge monthly fee. In fact, Square does not charge a monthly fee at all, and instead takes a small percentage of your revenue. It requires minimal hardware as well, and all you need is a small peripheral that you attach to your smart phone, and from there you can use the Square app to take people's credit card payments. This simplicity and low upfront cost is probably why Square is so popular with people who sell food out of trucks or carts. It requires hardly any capital at all to get started.

Though it is an excellent payment processor that is very inexpensive for those who are just starting, keep in mind that it is extremely basic on the POS side of things. It will calculate tax and other factors, keep track of sales, and offer a few nice stats to look at here and there, it is not as extensive as other systems. If you want something more complex and feature-rich, you may want to look elsewhere.

Revel

If you're looking for something that offers better analytics and that can be used to track your inventory as well, you might want to look into Revel. Built specifically with the restaurant business in mind, it won't cost you too much to set it up for a single terminal, and it has a lot of features that other POS systems don't have. For example, it integrates with social media and can be set up to notify your followers of where you are so that they can come find you. In addition, it's a very flexible kind of software that doesn't require any sort of proprietary equipment to use; most kinds of cash registers will do just fine. It may not be the cheapest POS system around, but it is a very high quality choice with a lot of extras.

ShopKeep

If you're looking for value, ShopKeep has it. It's not as cheap as Square, but for the amount of functionality it offers as a fully-functioning POS, you can't really find anything on the market that will beat it. It has everything: The ability to modify tax rates depending on where you are, the ability to print and edit receipts, the ability to create gift cards, among many other features. You can also use it to track your inventory, as you can with Revel, and much of your information is stored on the company's own servers, so you don't need to be tied to a specific machine to view your stats. They're a bit more picky about hardware than Revel, but luckily it can easily integrate with iOS, so that may not actually end up being a problem for you.

Another nice feature of ShopKeep is that it doesn't require you to be constantly connected to the Internet, which is great during those times when you're either far away from WiFi or when your 4G Internet cuts out. Once you are connected again, it simply syncs as you would expect.

Now that you have a basic understanding of three of the most popular POS systems for food trucks, hopefully you can move forward and make an informed decision about what sort of set up is right for you. Sometimes it's best to start small and work your way into a more complex system, but of course this depends on what your goals are as well. Good luck!

Best Contractor and Construction Merchant Accounts and Credit Card Processing Terminals
Saturday, April 08 2023

Home contractor merchant services that are built to last.

Shaw Merchant Group is committed to helping home contractors accept payments and build their businesses. When it comes to offering industry-best contractor merchant accounts, we’ve pretty much nailed it.

What to look for when choosing a mobile payment option for your contractor business.

When securing mobile payment processing for your home repair, construction, or plumbing business, there are a couple things you should look for. First, choose a solution that allows you to accept payments online, in person, or through an invoice at the lowest credit card processing rates possible. That way fees won’t eat into your margins. Secondly, make sure you’ll be able to accept payments even when your internet connection is spotty since you never know where the job will take you! Finally, choose a partner who is committed to helping small businesses like yours grow!

Add invoicing to your payments toolbox.

If you’re looking to accept credit card payments as a home repair technician or remodeling contractor, invoicing is important. Luckily, Payanywhere simplifies the invoicing process for our contractor partners.

  • Send invoices quickly and easily via email, SMS, or QR code.
  • Automate recurring billing cycles.
  • Enroll your clients in autopay.
  • Add custom branding to your invoices and receipts.

Invoicing is just one of the ways we are simplifying payment processing for contractors.

Choose from two unique themes.

Use Terminal theme to mirror a traditional credit card terminal. For item libraries, stock tracking, and open tabs, use Retail theme.

Email, text, or print receipts.

Provide customers with digital or printed receipts while maintaining a customer directory.

Accept Offline Transactions.

Accept payments even when you have a weak/limited or no internet connection.

Pick the pricing that suits your business.

We’ll do more than just lower your rates and fees. We can customize a pricing plan for your specific business that allows you to make more money on every transaction.

Get peace of mind.

Take advantage of our unrivaled commitment to payments security, including certified, point-to-point encryption, military-grade tokenization, and simplified PCI compliance that protects you from liability.

Manage your customers, employees, and inventory.

Simplify your back-office tasks in the Payanywhere app and Payments Hub, our secure, online merchant portal. 

  • Identify your first-time customers and biggest spenders.
  • Create unique employee roles, generate performance reports, and more.
  • Track/sync your inventory across devices while setting low-stock alerts.

The all-in-one payments platform powering contractors.

We have our own, in-house credit card processor. That allows us to be a better partner to residential carpenters, electricians, plumbers, and other contractors by offering them reliable payment processing with industry-best uptimes and one point of contact. Not to mention, industry-leading customer care and technical support.

Get a competitive edge.

Take advantage of Flat Rate Pricing and Cash Discount with our innovative dual-price Edge Program. It allows you to secure one low rate on every transaction while also allowing you to add a Cash Discount for non-card users.

Best FREE Credit Card Processing Machine for Coffee Shops
Friday, April 07 2023

Have you just opened your new coffee shop or café business and the customers are already pouring through the doors every morning? Congratulations! You know what you need now? A decent point of sale system to go with that cash box. You may love being a traditional little café and you might even think you're too small to need any kind of fancy equipment, but as you grow you're going to be glad to have a POS. Point of sale systems can not only help you keep track of how much you made, give you helpful stats on how your sales are doing, and help facilitate credit card transactions, but they can also keep track of your inventory so that you know what kind of supplies you will need next time you go to pick up your raw ingredients. The great thing about a POS is that it will help you stay organized, and you will never have to worry about where you left your scattered pile of receipts because you can always just print a new one.

Since the last thing you want is a POS that is too complicated or that won't fit your needs, let's take a look at one of the best point of sale systems that you can use precisely for a small, brick-and-mortar business like yours:

PayAnywhere Smart POS+

What's so great about the PayAnywhere Smart POS+? Well, just about everything, but there are some main features that make it perfect for a business that's just getting started or that needs to finally get organized:

  • Easy to Use: Not a computer wiz? Why would you need to be? You're in the café business after all! If tech support is something you simply don't want to deal with (or pay an arm and a leg for), then this is the kind of POS you want at your restaurant. It is extremely easy to set up and includes a wizard that will do all of the heavy lifting and help you to get started. Updating can also be a hassle with most modern operating systems, but you won't have to worry about that with the PayAnywhere Smart POS+. It takes care of the updates automatically so you don't have to fiddle with anything to get the latest security features installed.
  • Customizable: Your business is unique, so the interface on your point of sale system should be, too. Luckily, the software that runs on these machines is very modular and you can add or remove elements from the screen easily at your leisure. This means that if you have a very simple menu, you don't have to suffer from an overly-busy screen if you don't want to. It also means that you can use trial and error to determine what kind of interface is most efficient for you and your employees.
  • Advanced Technology:You want the most advanced software for your store, and thats exactly what this POS is running. The system is cloud-based, so you'll have the convenience of being able to keep an eye on sales and other figures whether you're at your coffee house location or need to step out to address your latest emergency. If you lose Internet access for any reason, though, don't worry: this system is still capable of storing information locally, and it will sync with the cloud as soon as you're re-connected, so you'll have the best of both worlds. This POS is also capable of taking several different payment methods, including cash, credit card, and Apple Pay, so you'll never have to lose a sale simply due to an inability to take your customer's money.
  • Great Hardware Overall: This is a very modern, very sleek and well-designed POS system that you'll be proud to have sitting on your counter-top. Unlike the old, bulky registers of yore, this system is thin and easily portable, and uses and extremely intuitive touch interface. The screen even twists around to face your customer so that they can sign off during a credit transaction, and it's just as easy to read and comprehend for them as it is for your employees as it mirrors the mobile interfaces that most of your customers will already be used to. The screen is just about the size of a large tablet at over 13”, so it's certainly big enough to to comfortably use, but not so big that it takes over your counter space. Don't worry about keeping your customers waiting, either, since this system is really fast. It uses a flash storage system rather than the old style of hard drive, so all of your orders can be taken and stored quickly.
  • Great Support: As mentioned, the interface is extremely easy to use, but as with any kind of technology things can certainly go wrong. If you find that you need tech support, the company will provide it 24-hours a day, 7 days a week, so you never have to worry about being caught in a tight spot because they are always there to help. Another nice aspect of their support is that if your equipment ever actually physically breaks, they will replace it for you for free.
  • Low Cost: Shaw Merchant Group offers a few different solutions, but the PayAnywhere Smart POS+  is the best value. It's one of their cheapest, costing only a small monthly fee (currently less than 40 dollars) to serve a small company with a few employees. Best of all, there is no upfront cost. For just a bit of pocket change practically, you can be up and running immediately, using some of the most advanced POS technology. There are many costs to not organizing your business properly, and considering how much this POS could save you in terms of time and labor, it will pay for itself many times over. So if you're looking for a POS that can serve you and your customers at your coffee shop, the PayAnywhere Smart POS+ is certainly one of the simplest, easiest, and cheapest options out there.
FREE Credit Card Processing Machines for Dentist Office
Wednesday, April 05 2023

With Shaw Merchant Group, small and medium-sized businesses get free, state-of-the-art credit card readers and wireless processing terminals. We offer a variety of payment solutions (wired, wireless, mobile and online) to meet your business needs. Plus, we’ll ship your card reader to you and help you get it up and running, all for no extra charge. Why? Because when your business thrives, so does ours. 

Taking payments at the office is a critical and standard method for dentists to take payments. This includes either standalone credit card machines, a virtual terminal, or integrated payments directly into your practice management software. These are all options that are made available through Shaw Merchant Group.

What's so great about the PA PAX E700 Smart POS+? Well, just about everything, but there are some main features that make it perfect for a business that's just getting started or that needs to finally get organized: 

Easy to Use

Not a computer wiz? Why would you need to be? You're in the café business after all! If tech support is something you simply don't want to deal with (or pay an arm and a leg for), then this is the kind of POS you want at your restaurant. It is extremely easy to set up and includes a wizard that will do all of the heavy lifting and help you to get started. Updating can also be a hassle with most modern operating systems, but you won't have to worry about that with the PayAnywhere Smart POS+. It takes care of the updates automatically so you don't have to fiddle with anything to get the latest security features installed. 

Customizable

Your business is unique, so the interface on your point of sale system should be, too. Luckily, the software that runs on these machines is very modular and you can add or remove elements from the screen easily at your leisure. This means that if you have a very simple menu, you don't have to suffer from an overly-busy screen if you don't want to. It also means that you can use trial and error to determine what kind of interface is most efficient for you and your employees. 

Advanced Technology 

You want the most advanced software for your store, and thats exactly what this POS is running. The system is cloud-based, so you'll have the convenience of being able to keep an eye on sales and other figures whether you're at your coffee house location or need to step out to address your latest emergency. If you lose Internet access for any reason, though, don't worry: this system is still capable of storing information locally, and it will sync with the cloud as soon as you're re-connected, so you'll have the best of both worlds. This POS is also capable of taking several different payment methods, including cash, credit card, and Apple Pay, so you'll never have to lose a sale simply due to an inability to take your customer's money. 

Great Hardware Overall

This is a very modern, very sleek and well-designed POS system that you'll be proud to have sitting on your counter-top. Unlike the old, bulky registers of yore, this system is thin and easily portable, and uses and extremely intuitive touch interface. The screen even twists around to face your customer so that they can sign off during a credit transaction, and it's just as easy to read and comprehend for them as it is for your employees as it mirrors the mobile interfaces that most of your customers will already be used to. The screen is just about the size of a large tablet at over 13”, so it's certainly big enough to to comfortably use, but not so big that it takes over your counter space. Don't worry about keeping your customers waiting, either, since this system is really fast. It uses a flash storage system rather than the old style of hard drive, so all of your orders can be taken and stored quickly. 

Great Support

As mentioned, the interface is extremely easy to use, but as with any kind of technology things can certainly go wrong. If you find that you need tech support, the company will provide it 24-hours a day, 7 days a week, so you never have to worry about being caught in a tight spot because they are always there to help. Another nice aspect of their support is that if your equipment ever actually physically breaks, they will replace it for you for free. 

Low Cost 

Shaw Merchant Group offers a few different solutions, but the PayAnywhere Smart POS+  is the best value. It's one of their cheapest, costing only a small monthly fee (currently less than 40 dollars) to serve a small company with a few employees. Best of all, there is no upfront cost. For just a bit of pocket change practically, you can be up and running immediately, using some of the most advanced POS technology. There are many costs to not organizing your business properly, and considering how much this POS could save you in terms of time and labor, it will pay for itself many times over. So if you're looking for a POS that can serve you and your customers at your coffee shop, the PayAnywhere Smart POS+ is certainly one of the simplest, easiest, and cheapest options out there.


PA PAX E700 Smart POS+

Transform your countertop with the space-saving, tablet-based point of sale designed for your storefront.

  • A 12.5” touchscreen with Android software.
  • An EMV chip card, NFC contactless, and magstripe reader.
  • Front and back cameras for easy barcode scanning.
  • A 4.3" customer facing touchscreen.
  • Cash drawer connectivity.
  • Built-in thermal printer with 3.14”-wide receipt paper.
  • 4G and wifi connectivity.
  • Free placement means no upfront cost.

The Payanywhere Smart POS+ is the ideal solution for merchants who want full POS functionality in a sleek and compact design.

Do you know how to read your merchant statement? I mean really read it and understand every charge. Most merchants can’t so don’t feel bad if you can’t either. Worse yet, do you let the bill come and go, paying it without giving it a second glance?

Here’s the problem. There’s a chance you’re paying hidden merchant processing fees or fees you didn’t agree to or know they existed. You could have a higher bottom line and not even know it. While some fees may be easily explained, some are unnecessary and until you identify them, they’ll keep eating at your profits.

What fees should you watch for? Check out our list below.

1. Assessment Fees

All merchant service providers charge assessment fees, but some are more transparent about it than others. The average assessment fee costs between 0.10% and 0.15%. If your credit card processor isn’t transparent, you’ll see the fee lumped into another fee or just listed as a total fee rather than a percentage. How do you know if you’re paying higher fees? Here’s a simple calculation: Take the total amount the provider charged you for a specific network (Visa or MasterCard for example) and divide it by the total sales for that card network. If it’s higher than 0.15% (that’s on the higher side), you’re paying too much. Even if you pay a lower amount, notice if the percentage increases from one month to the next. You may be paying more than necessary.

2. Interchange Fees

While not necessarily a ‘hidden’ fee since every merchant knows they pay it, not all merchant service providers are transparent about the costs. Many hide the fee amongst all the other fees without explanation. Here’s the problem. Providers charge many interchange fees based on the type of card (debit, reward credit card, platinum credit card, etc.) If you don’t have a detailed breakdown, you don’t know what you pay. That sounds like a hidden fee, right? What if your provider adds a markup? How much is it? You have the right to know. Ask your merchant service provider, and then shop around. Compare your options to determine if what you pay is fair or if you’re overpaying the interchange fees.

3. Surcharges

How many times have you fallen for a teaser rate only to find out later that you pay more than advertised? You’ve fallen for surcharges – it happens often. Whether the provider only advertised the lowest credit card processing rates for specific cards and didn’t reveal the higher rates or they didn’t explain non-qualifying transactions, you may pay higher rates than you thought. Would you like to figure out if you’re paying surcharges? It’s simple. Total up the fees you paid and divide it by the total amount charged that month. This is your effective rate, or what it costs you to process credit cards. If it’s far off from what you were told, you may want to shop around or talk to the merchant service provider.

4. Daily Discounts

The ideal merchant service provider charges you the credit card processing fees monthly, on the same day every month. This makes tracking expenses, surcharges, and increasing effective rates easy. You know when to check your statement, and how. You know how much to expect and will notice if something is different. Some merchant service providers, however, do daily discounting, which means they take your fees daily. It’s much harder for merchants to track the fees when they occur daily. How do you determine your effective rate or assessment fees? Ask for monthly discounting and make sure the merchant services provider doesn’t charge you an extra fee for it. Most include it in their fee, but make sure before you sign up.

5. Increasing Rates

Even when you sign a contract, your rates may increase. Read your contract’s fine print. Does it include a provision for increasing rates? What method does the service provider use to let you know? Most put a small message on your monthly statement. If you don’t see it, and don’t object within 30 days, the new rate goes into effect. If you aren’t calculating your fees, you may not even realize it.

6. Bundling Fees

Many merchant service providers bundle your services and offer various tiered programs. They claim that you get more services with the higher tiers. You may get an extra service or two, but is it worth the cost of the higher-paid plan? Typically, it’s not. Before you sign up for a higher plan, compare everything at face value. You’ll likely see that the more expensive plans aren’t worth it.

It seems costly to accept credit cards, especially with the hidden fees some charge, but there’s one way around it. Cash discounting helps merchants save money on credit card processing by passing the fee to process the card along to customers. It’s not that credit card payers pay more for a product – everyone pays the same prices, but you can offer cash buyers a discount of 3 – 4% since you avoid the credit card fees. This way your prices cover the cost of credit card processing and it encourages more customers to pay cash.

Credit card processing fees can quickly eat at your profits if you aren’t careful. Take the time to read the fine print and know the full cost of processing cards before choosing a merchant service provider. Look not only at the services they offer, but the fees too. Look at how they charge them, what’s included, and when you may be subjected to surcharges or other unexpected fees that take away from your profits.

Need Help?

If you have questions, or would like more information, please leave your name and contact information.
Submit

    ©2023 Shaw Merchant Group is a registered DBA of EPX, a registered ISO of BMO Harris Bank N.A., Chicago, IL, Fresno First Bank, Fresno, CA, and Citizens Bank N.A., Providence, RI.