Why are there so many different debit/credit card-swiping machines?!1

No two retail outlets have the same machine. There must be a brazillian different manufacturers? Or are there monopolies making *different* machines?!1 Seems like the only major difference is that some businesses don't do cash-back, so why all the variation---the stylus, the push buttons, the zip code, ...

If IBM started it all, did they keep the technology and farm it out to many manufacturers or what?!1


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http://www.merchantequip.com/information-center/credit-card-machines/

Guide to Credit Card Machines and Terminals

Credit Card Machine Information

There are many different styles and prices of credit card machines in today's industry. The type of credit card machine that a merchant needs is determined by the type of business and style of credit card processing that the merchant is planning on doing.

Popular Brands:
The most popular brands of credit card equipment in the us is Verifone, Hypercom, and Lipman.

Most merchants that are planning on keying in their transaction would need a terminal without an attached printer, while merchants who operate a retail type environment would need a credit card machine with an integrated printer. Many mobile businesses would benefit best from a wireless credit card machine, providing that their processing volume supports the high cost of the wireless terminal, and there is sufficient cellular coverage in their area.

Businesses that both swipe their credit cards and key their credit cards in, may benefit from having 2 merchant accounts processing through the same terminal. This may sound more expensive, but is usually a cheaper way to process if the keyed and swiped transaction volumes are about equal. There are several credit card terminals that can handle multiple merchant accounts. These terminals are: Nurit 2085, Nurit 3020, Nurit 3010, Nurit 8000, Omni 3750, Omni 3740, and the Verifone Tranz 380x2. There may be other terminals such as Linkpoint or Thales that can handle multiple merchant accounts but these listed are the most commonly used.

Another reason that a merchant might want a terminal that can handle multiple merchant accounts is their type of business needs several merchant accounts. This is very common for Massage, Hair Styling and similar type businesses. Each stylist or Masseuse can have their own merchant account for their own customers, which will help avoid complicated paperwork at the end of the month. ....




http://www.ehow.com/about_4810980_types-credit-card-swipe-machines.html

Types of Credit Card Swipe Machines

...the idea behind a credit card is only as good as the credit card swipe machines. These swipe machines must know everything about your credit card before you can even pass through.

History
The credit card swipe machine was developed by IBM. They used the idea of magnetic strips to keep customer information stored to create a credit card. This began in 1970. The credit swipe machine was then built so that it would be able to read the information that is being stored.

Importance
The strip on the credit card keeps track of the charges; both negative and positive. The credit card swipe machine then changes the negative and positive into 0's and 1's using a binary code. The credit card machine gives this information to the computer that then changes the binary code into numbers.

Use
Reading the strip on the credit card allows the data to be transferred through the telephone line to where the cardholder's bank then determines if there is money for the transaction or if there is not enough money for the transaction. This allows you to know if your card is accepted or rejected. ....

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