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7 Best Credit Card Readers for iPhone of April 2024

Card readers that connect with a POS app on your iPhone make it easy to accept payments from anywhere.
By Whitney Vandiver, Karrin Sehmbi, Hillary Crawford
Last updated on January 2, 2024
Edited byChristine Aebischer
Fact checked and reviewed

⏰ Estimated read time: 11 minutes

Many or all of the products featured here are from our partners who compensate us. This may influence which products we write about and where and how the product appears on a page. However, this does not influence our evaluations. Our opinions are our own. Here is a list of our partners and here's how we make money.

Credit card readers for iPhone pair with a mobile point-of-sale (POS) app to help small businesses accept and process credit card payments. Ultimately, the best credit card reader for your iPhone should accept at least chip and contactless payments, be compatible with your POS system and offer cost-effective payment processing fees.
These iPhone-friendly credit card readers meet the criteria.

Best Credit Card Readers for iPhone

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Estimates assume an average interchange fee of 1.81% + $0.10, based on our latest available data. Estimates provided reflect online and in-person transactions, but exclude any keyed transactions. Estimates are based on the lowest monthly plan and processing fees for each provider.

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Clover Go

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on Clover Go's secure website

Get an estimated monthly cost for your business.
4.0/5

Best for Overall card reader for iPhone

In-person: 2.6% + $0.10

Online: 3.5% + $0.10

$0.00

Payments plan; $14.95 Essentials plan.

Get an estimated monthly cost for your business.
Learn more

on Clover Go's secure website

Square Reader

Learn more

on Square Reader's secure website

5.0/5

Best for POS features

In-person: 2.6% + $0.10

Online: 2.9% + $0.30

$0.00

Starts at $0/month for unlimited devices and locations.

Learn more

on Square Reader's secure website

Helcim card reader

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on Helcim card reader's secure website

4.5/5

Best for High-volume sales

In-person: 0.4% + $0.08

Online: 0.5% + $0.25

Plus interchange

$0.00

Learn more

on Helcim card reader's secure website

SumUp Plus

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on SumUp Plus' secure website

3.5/5

Best for Value

In-person: 2.75% + $0.00

Online: 2.9% + $0.15

$0.00

Learn more

on SumUp Plus' secure website

Payanywhere 3-in-1 reader

4.5/5

Best for Small transactions

In-person: 2.69% + $0.00

Online: 3.49% + $0.19

$0.00

PayPal Zettle

4.0/5

Best for Alternative payment options

In-person: 2.29% + $0.09

Online: 2.89% + $0.49

$0.00

QuickBooks card reader

5.0/5

Best for Accounting integration

In-person: 2.5% + $0.00

Online: 2.99% + $0.00

$0.00

Our pick for

Overall card reader for iPhone

Clover Go

Learn more

on Clover Go's secure website

Monthly fee
$0.00

Payments plan; $14.95 Essentials plan.

Our pick for

POS features

Square Reader

Learn more

on Square Reader's secure website

Monthly fee
$0.00

Starts at $0/month for unlimited devices and locations.

Our pick for

High-volume sales

Helcim card reader

Learn more

on Helcim card reader's secure website

Monthly fee
$0.00

Our pick for

Value

SumUp Plus

Learn more

on SumUp Plus' secure website

Monthly fee
$0.00

Our pick for

Small transactions

Payanywhere 3-in-1 reader

Monthly fee
$0.00

Our pick for

Alternative payment options

PayPal Zettle

Monthly fee
$0.00

Our pick for

Accounting integration

QuickBooks card reader

Monthly fee
$0.00

Our picks for best iPhone credit card readers

Clover Go: Best overall card reader for iPhone

Why we like it: The Clover Go is a compact, portable card reader that connects to comprehensive POS software. Clover’s Essentials plan, which has a monthly fee, includes extra features such as tax reporting, real-time sales tracking and a customer database. The reader is able to accept payments even when your device is offline, although transactions won’t go through until you’re back online. Read our full Clover review.
Accepts: Magstripe, chip and contactless payment methods.

SumUp Plus reader: Best value

Why we like it: SumUp’s Plus reader can process more than 500 transactions on a single power charge. It has a screen to display transaction details, so you won’t have to share your personal device with the customer. SumUp offers a free app to use with the reader, which includes functionality for sales tracking and reporting and the ability to send digital receipts to customers. It doesn’t charge a monthly fee and doesn’t require a contract. Read our full SumUp review.
Accepts: Magstripe, chip and contactless payment methods.

Payanywhere 3-in-1 reader: Best for small transactions

Why we like it: Payanywhere’s versatile card reader comes with low in-person payment processing rates with no fixed fee on top. This makes it a cost-effective option for businesses with smaller transaction totals — for example, in-person transactions of $10 or less. Also included with the card at no additional cost is Payanywhere’s simple POS with basic functionality that includes inventory management and reporting. Read our full Payanywhere review.
Accepts: Magstripe, chip and contactless payment methods.

Square Reader: Best for POS features

Why we like it: Square’s free POS software is among the most feature-rich out there; it can give you the full range of business management capabilities, including customized and digital receipts, invoicing, customer profiles for repeat buyers, inventory management and more. Square also offers Tap to Pay on iPhone, which lets merchants accept card payments using only a regular iPhone with the Square POS app. Customers hold their cards or their own iPhone wallets near the merchant's phone to pay. Read our full Square review.
Accepts: Depends on which version of the Square Reader you purchase; The free Square Reader for magstripe only accepts swiped payments; The upgraded Square Reader accepts chip and contactless payment methods.

PayPal Zettle: Best for alternative payment options

Why we like it: Unlike some competitors, PayPal Zettle works with PayPal and Venmo. All transactions made with Zettle go straight into your PayPal account and can be transferred to your bank. Read our full PayPal Zettle review.
Accepts: Chip and contactless payment methods.

QuickBooks card reader: Best for accounting integration

Why we like it: If you have a QuickBooks Online account, you can use this card reader to automatically record your transactions in the accounting software. Read our full QuickBooks Payments review.
Accepts: Chip and contactless payment methods.

Helcim card reader: Best for high-volume sales

Why we like it: The purchase of a Helcim card reader also gives you access to its robust POS system, a virtual terminal and other tools at no additional cost. Helcim’s interchange pricing model and volume discounts make it a stronger fit for businesses with higher monthly transaction volumes. Read our full Helcim review.
Accepts: Chip and contactless payment methods.

What is an iPhone credit card reader?

Credit card readers for iPhone turn your smartphone into a standalone mobile POS system or an extension of a larger, existing POS system. This gives you the flexibility to accept in-person payments anywhere, whether that’s in your brick-and-mortar storefront or at a pop-up event. Ultimately, brick-and-mortar, mobile and online businesses all have the potential to expand their customer base by adding iPhone credit card readers to their tool kit.
You’ll start by downloading a mobile POS app on your iPhone. Some providers send you a card reader for free and others require you to purchase one — they typically cost around $50, but prices vary. From there, you’ll pair the iPhone credit card reader with the mobile POS app and start accepting payments. Credit card readers either plug directly into your iPhone or connect to it via bluetooth.

How to choose the best credit card reader for iPhone

If your business already has a POS system that works well, the decision will be straightforward: The credit card reader your POS system provider offers is likely the most convenient option. That way, the accompanying app will integrate with the rest of your POS system (e.g., a stationary, countertop POS terminal).
However, if you’re looking for your first or a new POS system, consider these factors to narrow down the best iPhone credit card reader for your business.

Types of payments accepted

Since contactless payments are popular among consumers, card readers that let customers “tap to pay” are becoming more common. At a minimum, iPhone credit card readers should accept these contactless payments and EMV chip cards that customers insert or “dip” into the reader. Some readers also allow you to swipe credit cards’ magstripe, though this is becoming less typical.

Integrations

There’s no shortage of credit card readers for iPhone on the market, but not all of them will be compatible with your existing POS setup. If you already use POS software in some capacity, make sure the card reader you’re considering has a mobile app that seamlessly integrates with that software. Otherwise, your sales won’t be consolidated in the same system. If you run a very small business and only plan to accept payment with your iPhone credit card reader (and not through other channels), this doesn’t matter as much.

Cost

Take into account the cost of the iPhone credit card reader itself, payment processing fees and POS app fees. Depending on your provider, your first card reader may be free. If not, card readers usually cost somewhere around $50, but can range from $29 to over $100. Bluetooth card readers that come with charging stands typically cost more than ones that plug directly into your phone.
In addition to your mobile hardware, you’ll have to pay a per-transaction credit card processing fee. Those fees typically follow one of two pricing structures: interchange plus or flat rate. The former can be more transparent and help high-volume businesses save money, but the latter is simpler to understand. Look out for added chargeback fees and PCI compliance fees, too.
You might have to pay a monthly fee if you’re using more robust POS software on a countertop terminal, but apps are usually free to download.

Methodology

Here is more information on how NerdWallet evaluates POS systems, payment processors, their accompanying apps and card readers:
Last updated on January 2, 2024
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