BUSINESS

  TECHNOLOGY

LET PATIENTS DO THE SWIPING

AN mPOS DEVICE OFFERS A CONVENIENT CREDIT CARD PROCESSING TECHNOLOGY

KEVIN GEE, O.D.

UNLESS YOU did all your holiday shopping online, you, no doubt, encountered a mobile point-of-sale (mPOS) device at a retailer. In addition, you’ve probably noticed that credit cards now contain a tiny microchip.

Here, I discuss both technologies as they relate to the optometric practice.

mPOS

These devices enable merchants to swipe credit cards without the patron having to wait in line for the credit card machine. Consumers love these devices because (1) they are a huge time saver, and (2) receipts are emailed or texted, so consumers don’t have to worry about the chance of losing paper receipts.

My practice was an early adopter to mPOS. This is because my staff was already utilizing digital tablets to message each other, show informational videos, display lens package pricing and take photos of patients wearing new frames. As a result, plugging mPOS readers into the tablets’ headphone jacks to swipe a credit card was easy.

The processing rate was a bit higher, but the ease of use far outweighs the additional charges. In addition, patients are very comfortable with this technology, likely because they have seen it in other retail establishments. Further, they often comment on how easy we’ve made transactions for them.

EMV

The EMV, or Europay, MasterCard and Visa, chip stores and protects the cardholder’s information and the merchant. Specifically, while magnetic strip transactions depend on the cardholder’s signature and features, such as a hologram, EMV provides cryptographic algorithms that authenticate the card, protecting the cardholder from fraud. The noted increased security of EMV has made merchants who don’t have chip readers accountable for fraud. In fact, in October, EMV was mandated in the United States. (EMV has been the standard in most parts of the world for decades and was mandated in the EU region in January 2005.)

To acquire a chip reader, contact your merchant services representative or one of the “Players” listed in the center column. Something else to keep in mind: Platforms are being established for even more payment methods, such as Google Wallet and Apple Pay, so keep your eyes out (pun intended).

STAYING RELEVANT

We, as optometrists, are unique in that we have both a professional service fee as well as a good bit of retail service fees. As such, it makes sense to utilize mPOS and EMV chip readers to keep up with technology and, therefore, make our patients happy. OM

DR. GEE practices in Houston and is an assistant clinical professor at the University of Houston College of Optometry. He is a Fellow of the AAO, an ABO Diplomate and an OCRT member. Also, he’s on Allergan’s advisory board and is a consultant for Solution Reach. Email him at drgee@geeeyecare.com, or visit tinyurl.com/comment to comment.