7 Best Credit Card Readers for Android

Magstripe Reader First free, additional $10 Available with lightning or audio jack input. Accepts payments via magstripe (swiped).	Chip + Contactless Reader $59 Connects via Bluetooth. Accepts payments via EMV (chip) or NFC (Apple Pay, Google Pay).

• Payment types: Credit cards, touchless, online, gift cards, and international cards—but not cross-border (i.e., you must be in the country where you activated your Square account). Echecks are possible with an extra charge.

• Monthly processing fee: $0
• Transaction fees:
  • Card present: 2.6% + 10 cents
  • Keyed-in: 3.5% + 15 cents
  • Online, Recurring, and Invoicing: 2.9% + 30 cents
• Chargeback fee: Waived up to $250 per month
• Free POS software
• Next-day funding, same-day with fee
• Card reader: $0–$49 for chip and tap (one free swipe reader)
  • Accepts tap, dip, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and other NFC payments
  • Offline payment processing

When you choose to use Square’s POS software, you are also locked into Square’s native payment processor, Square Payments. And, while it offers very competitive transaction rates, some businesses might prefer an alternative such as Clover, where merchants can program the hardware with their preferred payment processor.

Square received a score of 4.8 stars on Google Play, with over 200,000 reviews. The few one-star reviews were mostly about customer service issues or closed accounts.

• Best feature: Square’s free online POS system is great for sellers that do the occasional weekend fair. It is also powerful enough for restaurants or brick-and-mortar stores. If you need scheduling, appointment booking, and customer management, you can get these features at an additional price
• Fraud protection: Square offers free dispute management, active fraud prevention, and notification of suspicious activity. You can add risk management for 6 cents per transaction.

Zettle Reader 2 $79 (first one $29) Accepts payments via magstripe (swipe), EMV (chip) and NFC contactless payments (Apple Pay, Android Pay).	Zettle Dock 2 $49 Charging and holding dock for countertop use

• Payment types: Aside from the unique position that allows Zettle to accept PayPal payments, merchants can also track cash receipts, gift cards, bitcoin, and QR codes. Zettle’s mobile POS app also allows customers to include tips, print receipts, and issue full or partial refunds.

• Monthly fee: $0
• Transaction fees:
  • Card present: 2.29% + 9 cents
  • Keyed-in: 3.49% + 9 cents
• Chargeback fee: $20
• Free POS Software
• Next-day funding, same-day with fee
• Card reader: $79 (first one, $29)
  • One-year limited warranty
  • Accepts debit and credit EMV cards, NFC payments, gift cards, and Venmo payments

Zettle user review score decreased from 3.8 to 3.3 out of 5 stars on Google Play store from more than 42,000 reviews. Some customers say that the platform is easy to use, while complaints include problems using the reader after a mobile app update and unscheduled updates during business operations.

• Best feature: Zettle gives you same-day deposit options either to your PayPal balance (without fee) or your bank (1.5% fee) so you get the fastest access to your funds. Note that you can only get a same-day deposit to your bank account with Square for a 1.5% additional fee to your deposited amount.
• Fraud protection: Zettle comes with tokenization and data encryption tools for processing in-person transactions. It also has a built-in analytics and machine learning system that monitors your transactions against evolving cyber threats.

Unfortunately, PayPal Zettle does not support offline payment processing, which can slow down your business if you sell in remote locations for trade shows and fairs. Consider Square as an alternative if you need this feature.

Card Reader	Smart Terminal
$99	$329
Tap, Chip & PIN transactions	Tap, Chip & PIN transactions
Email receipts, batch history, inventory tracking	Email & print receipts, batch history, inventory tracking, built-in POS, employee logins
Buy Helcim Card Reader	Buy Helcim Smart Terminal

• Payment types: Helcim’s credit card reader can accept EMV chip and contactless payments. It can also process digital wallet payments, such as Apple Pay. The card reader also features a PIN pad that allows Helcim merchants to also accept debit card and prepaid card payments, such as EBT, FSA, and HSA.

• Monthly fee: $0
• Card reader cost: From $99
• Transaction fee:
  • Card-present fee: Interchange plus 0.15% + 6 cents to 0.4% + 8 cents
  • Card-not-present fee: Interchange plus 0.15% + 15 cents to 0.50% + 25 cents
  • American Express transactions: 0.10% + 10 cents
• Chargeback fee: $15 (reimbursable)

Helcim’s mobile POS app received a score of 2.9 out of 5 on Google Play, from nearly 80 reviews. The system still has a long way to go when it comes to card reader and mobile app popularity.

• Best feature: Helcim’s best feature is its automated processing fee discounts. With this feature, merchants are not restricted to a processing volume. Users also no longer need to apply for cheaper transaction rates as their business grows. Additionally, merchants who also accept card-not-present payments can qualify for free credit card processing automatically if they also have ACH payments.
• Fraud protection: Helcim’s fraud protection feature called Fraud Defender is comparable to Stripe. The system can estimate transaction risk based on several criteria such as IP address, shipping and billing location, and card security code.

SumUp Plus $39 ($49 with dock) Bluetooth connectivity and comes with charging dock, LED screen, tipping function	SumUp Solo $129 Standalone card reader, touch-screen panel, refund and dynamic tipping tools, invoicing

• Payment types: Accepts EMV chip, contactless (NFC), Apple and Android Pay

• Monthly fee: $0
• Card reader:
  • $39–$129
  • 1-year warranty
• Transaction fees:
  • In-person transaction: 2.75%
  • Online transaction: 3.25% + 15 cents
  • Virtual terminal processing: 3.25% + 15 cents
• Chargeback fee: $0
• Funding: 1–2 business days

SumUp’s Android payment app received a score of 3.2 out of 5, from around 82,000 reviews. While there are a number of satisfied users that praise SumUp for its ease of use, the majority of user feedback from this year are complaints of persistent disconnection of card readers, slow transfer of funds, and other unresolved technical issues.

• Best feature: SumUp stands out as a mobile-first payment processing provider in the market. Like Clover, the POS software features available are based on the type of SumUp card reader being used, so you only pay for tools you actually need.
• Fraud protection: SumUp implements payment processing security measures that follow Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI-DSS), as well as 256-bit encryption. It also uses Secure Socket Layer (SSI) and Transport Layer Security (TLS) encryption protocols for protecting data transmitted over the internet.

One downside of SumUp is its limited ecommerce integration options. you can readily find a wider range and flexibility from other providers in our list. If you require multichannel sales, look for alternatives offering built-in ecommerce tools, like Square or Shopify.

Shopify Tap & Chip Card Reader $49 Bluetooth-enabled, 2-in-1 EMV certified mobile card reader	Shopify Go $399 All-in-one mobile POS device that can accept chip, swipe, and contactless payments. Connects to Wi-Fi or cellular data. Built-in barcode scanner.

• Payment types: Shopify accepts credit cards (via EMV chip), contactless (via NFC and QR), digital wallets ( Apple Pay, Google Pay), online, gift card, international, and bitcoin. Shopify can also be programmed to accept local payment methods for different countries for a fee.

• Monthly fee: $0–$89 (plus Shopify ecommerce plan*)
• Transaction fees:
  • In-person: 2.4%–2.7%
  • Online: 2.4%–2.9% + 30 cents
• Chargeback fee: $15
• Card reader: $29–$49 One-year limited warranty (minimum)

*Will require a subscription to a Shopify ecommerce account ($39–$399 per month) to access the free POS

Shopify’s Android payment app score further decreased from 3.0 to 2.9 stars with just over 2,000 reviews. Users loved the convenience, but some complained it looked more dated on Android than on iPhone and had connection issues.

• Best feature: Shopify is our choice for the best ecommerce platform. In addition to a fully featured POS system, it offers other sales avenues and processes payments from cash to Bitcoin. Even though Shopify is known for ecommerce, it has a robust POS platform for mobile and in-store sales, making it an ideal solution for multichannel sellers. Shopify integrates with over 2,000 different apps and programs.
• Fraud protection: EMV- and PCI-certified readers, fraud analysis, and fraud prevention recommendations.

If your business regularly accepts credit card payments on the go, not having access to a reliable internet connection can become a problem. Aside from the lack of a swipe payment method for its Android-compatible card reader, Shopify can only process cash and digital wallet transactions while offline. If you need full offline payment functionality, consider Square or SumUp.

Chase Blue Mobile 3-in-1 Card Reader ($49.95) Bluetooth mobile card reader that accepts swiped, EMV chip, and tap payments.

• Payment types: Chase supports in-person and remote credit card payments, as well as debit card transactions through the stand-alone payment terminal. It can also process mobile/digital wallet payments.

• Monthly fee:
  • Mobile Checkout (without a Chase bank account): $0
  • Quick Accept (with a Chase bank account): $0 or $15 if your bank balance falls below $2,000 for the month
• Transaction fees:
  • In-person transaction fee: 2.6% plus 10 cents
  • Online transaction fee: 2.9% plus 25 cents
  • Keyed-in transaction fee: 3.5% + 10 cents
• Chargeback fee: $25
• Card reader: $49.95

The Chase Mobile Checkout app on Google Play earned a score of 3.5 out of 5 with about 4,200 reviews. After the recent software updates, users are unanimously struggling with login issues and app crashes (likely) due to software security updates.

• Best feature: Chase offers a free same-day deposit of your sales proceeds with a Chase bank account. This means faster access to funds and better control of finances. This feature is not often seen in other traditional merchant account providers, and if it is, it will most likely require an additional fee.
• Fraud protection: Chase comes with several fraud protection features, such as data encryption and tokenization, check monitoring and protection services, and an ACH debit block service.

Chase does a great job of providing a simple mobile payment solution for small merchants. It also works with other POS systems that have a partnership with Chase—an advantage over Square. But if you need a more robust POS feature set, Square’s free industry-specific native POS tools will still be the best option.

Clover Go ($49) 3-in-1 Bluetooth-enabled mobile card reader

• Payment types: Clover accepts swipe, dip, or tap payments using credit and debit cards, as well as contactless payments like Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal, and Venmo.

• Monthly fee: For Clover POS available to the mobile credit card reader
  • Starter: $0
  • Standard: $14.95
• Transaction fees:
  • In-person transaction fee: 2.6% plus 10 cents
  • Keyed-in transaction fee: 3.5% + 10 cents
• Chargeback fee: $25
• Card reader: $49

The Clover GO Dashboard and POS app is rated 4.6 out of 5 by over 4,900 users. While a popular app, merchants using Clover GO, like Chase Mobile Checkout users, have recently been struggling with login issues, crashes, and freezing apps.

• Best feature: Flexibility is Clover’s biggest selling point. Unlike Square, merchants can program Clover POS and hardware to work with a payment processor of their choice. Clover also offers scalability as merchants only have to pay for (or even get for free) features they need based on their business size.
• Fraud protection: Clover provides PCI-compliant data security filters and customizable fraud management tools such as velocity, CVV, GEO IP tracking, and address verification filters.

Clover is considered one of the best alternatives to Square for those who want more freedom with their payment processor. However, not all merchants with growing businesses might appreciate how Clover payments and POS functions are limited to the hardware option. If this is the case, consider Chase Mobile Checkout or Chase Quick Accept for better POS hardware and software flexibility.