Whether you serve up your town’s best street tacos, gourmet grab-and-go sandwiches or a mouthwatering batch of BBQ ribs, your food truck customers need to pay quickly and easily.

From swipe-and-scan to mobile POS and point of sale solutions designed specifically for food trucks, we’ve got you covered. Our recommended processors offer competitive rates and a free mobile card reader with a long-term contract.

1. Swipe-and-Scan

A full credit card processing system takes up valuable space in a food truck, so it’s important to pick one that’s compact and efficient. These options all work with a mobile payment app that turns most smartphones or tablets into full point of sale (POS) terminals.

When you swipe a card, it sends your credit or debit information along with a security code to the payment processor. The processor then verifies the information, transfers funds, and completes the transaction.

This type of transaction is the fastest for most food trucks and requires no computer to manage. Leaders Merchant Services offers a variety of mobile payment solutions including the streamlined Clover Mini and the surprisingly compact Clover Flex, which both operate on 4G and WiFi and come with free POS hardware and no setup fee. It also offers affordable rates with no interchange markup fees and valuable features to help you grow your business. Its cash discount program is available to qualified food trucks at no additional cost.

2. Keyed-In

Fewer and fewer people carry cash nowadays, so it’s essential for food truck owners to be able to accept card payments. Modern point-of-sale (POS) systems offer a range of payment options including credit cards, debit cards, and mobile payments.

Credit card processing companies facilitate transactions by communicating with banks and credit card companies. They verify and approve the transaction, then send funds to the merchant account.

Many offer all-in-one solutions with hardware and software that food trucks need to manage inventory, staff schedules, and customer data. They also include a range of other functions such as payment terminals, receipt printers, and cash drawers.

For food trucks on the go, the Clover Flex mobile POS is a great option. It can run on WiFi or LTE and uses a smart mobile app to enable customers to order online and pay as they wait for their food. It’s also affordable, with wholesale interchange rates, and offers excellent technical support.

3. Chip-and-PIN

If you have a food truck, it makes sense to add the ability to accept credit and debit card payments. This will increase your sales and enable you to offer customers more choice.

Chip-and-PIN machines require the customer to enter a PIN, which acts as a second layer of security for their transaction. The machine then sends this information to the bank, and the purchase is electronically approved. This process significantly reduces the risk of fraudulent transactions – counterfeit cards account for 9 percent of all credit card fraud, according to Visa.

A portable chip-and-pin card machine is a great option for businesses on the go, such as couriers, taxi drivers and market stalls. It is small enough to fit in a pocket, and can be used wherever there is a mobile network connection. It is also more affordable than a countertop chip-and-pin machine. Choosing the right processor for your food truck will depend on how much you sell, your menu prices, and your business requirements. Leaders Merchant Services, for example, offers interchange-plus pricing and free POS and mPOS equipment with a long-term contract.

4. EFTPOS

EFTPOS is an acronym that stands for Electronic Funds Transfer at Point of Sale. It is a system that allows you to accept debit and credit cards by transferring digital transfers directly from customers’ bank accounts into your business’s account.

The system consists of a card terminal (the device that processes payments) and a host (the software/hardware that holds business data and calculates sales, which connects or integrates with the card machine taking the payments). Generally speaking, EFTPOS is considered a POS

until it’s combined with a payment scheme — a party that sets rules and imposes access rights.

Stax is an excellent option for food truck owners looking to get started with EFTPOS. This mobile-based provider offers affordable rates with no interchange markup fees, a comprehensive app that turns smartphones and tablets into mPOS devices, and useful tools for managing inventory and finances. It earned 4.28 out of 5 stars in our mPOS review and is suitable for high-volume catering and event-heavy trucks.