Best Credit Card Reader for Hairstylists in 2023

If you’re in the beauty industry, then you know that it’s important to find the best credit card reader for hairstylists to work well with your salon point of sale software. Being able to accept card payments quickly and offer clients a variety of payment options makes everyone’s lives easier.

5 Best Credit Card Readers for Hairstylists

Zolmi

Zolmi is a free, complete and versatile payment processing system that helps hair salons manage their payments, clients and staff.

Zolmi’s POS system is user-friendly and provides more advanced features than just debit and credit card processing- they also offer inventory management, a website builder, online booking, staff scheduling and more.

Salons that use Zolmi’s credit card processor don’t need to bother with a physical card reader to process payments- you can do it all through your mobile device using SMS and the app.

Zolmi’s credit card payment gateway charges a low fee per transaction ( 2.19% plus $0.2) when clients pay online, meaning there are no monthly fees or nasty surprises.

If you prefer to use a credit card terminal machine for salons that you operate, that’s no problem because credit card processors can be integrated with Zolmi’s system, too. Using Zolmi’s software, you can even print or email receipts.

Pros:

• No monthly fee
• Zolmi’s software features are versatile and easy to use
• It’s available worldwide
• Competitive transaction fees for credit card payments

Cons:

• They don’t provide a card reader or physical hardware

Square

Square offers salon owners a variety of mobile credit card processing options to choose from, including a chip and card reader for processing contactless payments, and a free cash register app that you can download.

Their card reader is reasonably priced at $49 and can be ordered from Square’s website. As far as fees go, Square offers clients a flat rate of 2.6% plus $0.10 an all card-present transactions. Funds are then deposited in your account in approximately 1-2 days.

Finally, Square provides additional salon management features like inventory tracking, an online store, invoicing and customer data management to help optimize your business.

Pros:

• They don’t charge monthly fees
• Set-up is free
• Several different features available
• The card reader is not expensive

Cons:

• Their rates aren’t the best for high-volume sellers
• You may not receive payments right away

To learn more please check out our post on Credit Card Processing for Salons.

Stripe

Stripe offers a salon POS system which includes a card reader that you can order from their website. Their system includes the ability to accept credit cards and store information for recurring payments.

Using Stripe, you can manage client’s bookings and communicate with them easily. Their customer knowledge base and forums are available in case you have any questions, and you can also access customer support via their website’s chat or email.

Salon owners and booth renters will appreciate Stripe’s versatility in salon card processing- they accept payments from most international credit and debit cards in many major currencies, which can be an asset for anyone working in a large city or international area.

Pros:

• No monthly fees
• They only charge a flat fee of 2.7% plus $0.05 per transaction
• You can track payments and purchases using their terminal integration

Cons:

• They don’t offer all the features that some other providers do
• No virtual terminal option
• Startup is less user-friendly

To learn more please check out our post on Payment Methods in a Salon.

Clover

Clover offers both hardware-based point of sale solutions as well as a virtual terminal plan for taking mobile payments quickly and easily. This is great for salons that want some degree of flexibility.

They also provide salon owners with various monthly plans to choose from, with their own features and monthly cost.

Overall, Clover is fairly user-friendly, but does require you to combine its basic system with several (mostly free) apps if you want to create a more in-depth salon software solution with multiple client, scheduling and staff management tools.

Pros:

• Lots of options for a custom experience
• Apps are user-friendly
• Customer support with 24/7 phone service

Cons:

• None of the plans are free
• Setup and pricing can be a bit complicated
• You’ll have to set up multiple apps

SumUp

With SumUp, salon owners can choose between two card readers (a physical one and a free card reader in their app). They also only charge 1.69% on each transaction, making their pricing competitive among the various salon payment methods out there.

Additionally, you don’t have to worry about additional setup costs or monthly fees, and payment of funds is fairly quick (1-3 days is standard for them).

One thing to be aware of is that SumUp doesn’t integrate with other software, although you can use their online dashboard to check your data. If you want to perform your own detailed analysis, though, you’ll have to manually export it to a program like Excel.

Pros:

• Setup is quick and easy
• You don’t need the app to start using it
• There aren’t any monthly subscription fees

Cons:

• It may not be the right choice if you’re looking for a ton of extra features
• You can’t integrate it with your existing software

Conclusion

Whether you’re looking for a convenient payment method for your clients, planning to accept contactless payments with various options such as apple pay, or need to print receipts, salon owners have a lot of options to choose from.

Finding the best credit card reader for hairstylists doesn’t have to be hard- a great place to start is by making a list of your own business needs, then deciding what works best for you. We recommend Zolmi because of its many user-friendly features, affordability and overall versatility.

Citations

Design and implementation of a card reader based on build-in camera
https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/1334142/

Learning to slide a magnetic card through a card reader
https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/6225358/

Wirelessly lockpicking a smart card reader
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10207-014-0234-0