What is a SIM Card and
Why do You Need One to Accept Payments?
Did you know that Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) Cards are used for more than just smartphones? SIM Cards can be inserted into any point of sale device, from mobile point of sale, countertop sales terminals, even vending machines and parking meters. This provides anywhere wireless connection without having to rely on an existing Wi-Fi connection, and a dedicated secure connection for transferring sensitive payment data and information for payment processing.
The SIM card also reads the information off of a customer’s payment method, check whether funds are in the customer account, transfer the funds from the customer’s account to the seller’s account, record the transaction, and print a receipt. For all of this to happen, you need a SIM card. If a payment terminal isn’t wirelessly connected, it can’t accept or process payments.
So, why can’t you just use Wi-Fi? For one, Wi-Fi isn’t that dependable. From security threats to loss of signal, bad weather, a cut cable, so much can go wrong to cause a failover situation. The Cellular data network is much more stable, and can be used as a backup solution if Wi-Fi goes down, or as the primary method of connectivity for payment devices.
More than just providing reliable connectivity, payment terminals with SIM cards enable mobility. This is important for anyone doing business in an untraditional location, like food trucks, event merchants, mobile merchants like home service providers. It also means you don’t have to put your parking kiosk or your vending machine in a building with Wi-Fi, you can put them anywhere that makes sense for your business and still have wireless connectivity.
SIM cards are also low-cost. With the right connectivity partner, like Apriva, you don’t have to pay activation fees, terminal provisioning fees, or per-transaction fees. We offer managed service, supplying the SIM cards, network connections from all of North America’s major carriers, and support services.