Which is better PayPal Here or Square to use as an online mobile payment processor?

In a recent survey by Paypal Canada on about 1,000 Canadian small business owners, it was found that more than 80 per cent didn’t accept payments either online or on the go ans little more than 70 per cent would never consider selling online. Signing up for a credit card merchant account can be difficult enough, involving background checks and legal contracts that can put small businesses off. But Paypal and other such companies like Square have been offering alternatives for those wanting to accept credit cards online, or in person, or both and running with in-store or mobile point of sale solutions.  To find which is better you need to first look at both of these mobile payment processors and judge their fairness to prove which is the best one to use as payment option.

Square has been the brand mobile payment processing since its inception in 2009 and has estimated 2 million registered merchants. Square has made it possible for anyone to accept credit card payments and grow their business with a dazzling and ever-growing suite of tools and apps. PayPal is a big company in all forms of commerce, and it’s dominated the online payments space in particular, with about 8 million PayPal for Business users. In 2012, it ventured into mobile payments with the PayPal Here app, which works with the rest of the PayPal Suite.

Let us compare Square vs PayPal and see which seems better

Services and products

Square and PayPal Here are both mobile Point of Sale (mPOS) services, requiring just a cell phone or tablet to accept credit cards. They’re great for merchants at conventions and trade shows, street vendors, online casinos, repair businesses, professional services, restaurants and retail boutiques.  Basically anywhere that you may not have an actual register, or don’t need a large, complicated POS system, either service will give you what you need.

As far as core features are concerned, you’re going to get the same experience from both. As they both accept all forms of credit, give keyed transaction support, record cash transactions, issue full and partial refunds, apply discounts, have item library with product descriptions, images, and variants, barcodes and SKUs, have receipt printing and receipts via email/SMS as well as cash drawer support and invoicing.

Square’s app is very nearly a full-fledged POS, and it offers several additional services free of charge like inventory management with counts and low-stock alerts and a virtual terminal for example. Also you can add services such as employee management and customer loyalty and everything synchronizes seamlessly in the Square Dashboard. If you want the freedom to create a register setup and use the same app for your mobile sales, you can do that with Square almost effortlessly.

Find the difference and choose the best

Though Square has put a lot of effort into its eCommerce offerings of late, but it’s still not the most robust option out there. If your online sales are as important to you as your mobile sales, PayPal might be the better option for you.

If you want add-ons, PayPal Here isn’t nearly as robust as Square. Its inventory features are more limited  and most notably, PayPal Here’s item library doesn’t sync with the rest of your PayPal setup. There’s no offline mode to it also.

However, Paypal’s eCommerce capabilities are easily the best on the market. If selling online as well as on cell phonedevices is a priority for you, you shouldn’t overlook the value and compatibility PayPal offers.

But  if you’re just looking at mobile, Square can do just a bit more, and that’s why it ultimately comes out on top. If you want to take either solution to a counter top, Square still offers more functionality — but if you’re selling online as well, PayPal has a distinct advantage.

When choosing an mPOS you look at your technical needs as well as how the app of your choosing fits into the rest of your business. Omni-channel solutions are becoming far more common and they can be a very effective way to manage payment processing and orders across all these different channels.

Supported phones and tablets

To have a cell phone setup all you need is a compatible smartphone or tablet and a credit card reader. You can send your customers digital receipts from either PayPal Here or Square. But if you want a full-fledged register, you can have receipt printer and cash drawer or the entire system.

Both PayPal Here and Square are designed to work on Android and iOS devicesbe it tablets and smartphones. However, you’ll get maximum capabilities out of Square if you’re running an iPad. On the other hand, PayPal Here supports a small assortment of Windows devices as well. You’ve got a fairly large list of supported devices on both, and few compatibility issues on either part.

Supported Card Reader

You get a free magstripe reader from PayPal Here and Square for signing up. PayPal’s only other carder reader option, its EMV reader such as the Miura M010. It’s a Bluetooth-enabled all-in-one reader and it’s fairly comfortable to hold in your hand and you can even get a cradle with built in charger for a countertop setup.

Square has a larger assortment of devices to choose from. There’s a headphone jack EMV/magstripe reader as well as its Contactless + Chip Card reader, which supports NFC and EMV but not magstripe transactions. It also has a dock but it isn’t exactly friendly to handheld use. You can also get the Miura M010 for Square. But PayPal’s version supports both Android and iOS, Square’s only works with Android.

As far as price, that’ll be something you’ll have to decide for yourself. PayPal’s reader retails for $79.99, while Square offers it’s contactless + chip card reader for $49. When we compare it is seen that Square has a larger array of options at more cost-effective price points.

Supported Hardware

PayPal Here and Square both accommodate a variety of receipt printers, cash drawers, even barcode scanners. Depending on what you need, you can get a pre-assembled bundle of hardware directly through Square or through POS Portal for PayPal Here. You’ll save over buying each item individually, but prices vary depending on what equipment you want.

PayPal’s supported hardware offers simplicity, whereas you might find yourself bewildered over the Square options, but also the more affordable hardware and greater selection of pre-designed bundles are nice.

Fees and Rates

While the cost of hardware is notably different, Square and PayPal Here do offer similar prices for credit card processing. Neither service charges any regular fees beyond those incurred per transaction, though with both you can opt for add-on services. If you’re just running the app and maybe eCommerce, you might save a bit fraction with PayPal Here, but 0.05% is a very tiny amount at this scale, and you should consider other factors.

The main advantage to PayPal is how quickly your money is available: Any mobile payments you accept are available almost instantly in your PayPal account. That means if you have the PayPal debit card, you can spend your money right away to online casinos to play slots.

Square where as sends its payments to your bank account within 1-2 business days, depending on when the payment was processed. Payments taken before 5 p.m. Pacific time are available the next business day; payments made after 5 p.m. Pacific time are available the second business day. However, you can also initiate an Instant Deposit for 1% of the transferred sum.

However, if you don’t have the PayPal debit card, or you prefer to route all your funds to your bank account, Square has the advantage. An ACH transfer from PayPal to your bank will take 3-4 days, which could be an issue for some merchants.

Both Square and Paypal Here pricing for their core features that is the mPOS and eCommerce suites are virtually identical. But if you look as how fast you have access to your funds then with PayPal it’s almost instant. You can get your funds right away with Square also for a slight fee. But recurring billing or a virtual terminal will cost you significantly more with PayPal. That marginally lower rate won’t actually save you money until you start processing $10k in just virtual terminal transactions. Therefore you to do the math yourself based on your own processing needs and see which is more cost effective

Advantages that both Square and Paypal Here have

One of the advantages to both Square and PayPal Here is that there’s no contract, no monthly fees, no termination fees. If you don’t like the service, just stop using it and find another one. You can’t get a better deal than that.

In general, both Square and PayPal Here deliver what they offer: an effective mobile payment solution with up-front pricing and no hidden fees.

You’ll find both PayPal and Square have active social media and social media support channels too

Also both have wonderful customer support. Square support has a efficient help support, social media support, as well as Contact Us Form online support. There is phone support too with Square but it is only available if you have a code, which some people have reported having trouble getting. If your account is terminated, you lose all access to phone support.

PayPal Here support goes through the main PayPal system. Again, you can pick the option that suits your needs: Like PayPal Hub Home to get all your questions answered, PayPal Community Forum to get answers from other PayPal users, Social Media: Facebook and Twitter as well as Phone and Email.

Finally it is for you to decide which is better as it depends a lot on your need to avail their services.