Mobile payment apps offered by companies like Square, Paypal and Groupon have been in the news quite a bit lately. Due to the hype surrounding these payment solutions, many small businesses have rushed to these mobile apps for their low up-front costs and overall simplicity. However, most so-called “simple” payment solutions are exactly that—very limited in their capabilities and certainly not scalable.

Meanwhile, Harbortouch has been garnering attention for our own free solution. But the difference between our offering and the mobile payment apps is that Harbortouch provides a full-featured, touch-screen point of sale (POS) system – valued at $5,000 – compared to the cheap plastic “dongle” being supplied by Square and the other mobile payments companies.

Additionally, our award-winning free POS system comes complete with robust, full-featured software compared to the limited functionality offered by mobile payment apps. The Harbortouch software offers advanced reporting capabilities, inventory management, employee tracking with built-in time clock and countless industry-specific features to meet the unique needs of restaurants and night clubs, retail and service businesses, quick-service and delivery establishments and convenience stores.

Small businesses need smart tools to help them grow without breaking the bank. But most mobile payment apps and small-scale POS systems, like those offered by Square and Groupon, don’t provide the scalability or sophisticated features real businesses need. Many people choose these apps because of the name recognition, but they don’t realize that these options don’t offer the features they are going to need to run their business. These apps utilize cheap plastic gizmos to accept payments and rely on stripped down software. They may work for babysitters and flea market sales, but they simply aren’t intended for restaurants, retail stores or other small to mid-sized businesses.

With free state-of-the-art hardware, software, installation and training included, Harbortouch is a much better value than small-scale mobile systems, and it’s much easier to expand and grow the system as your business grows. And, with Harbortouch, you’re never on your own—your system is backed by our lifetime repair/replacement warranty, plus access to our 24/7 customer service and technical support center.

Don’t be fooled by the mobile hype. We have created a video that highlights the advantages of Harbortouch over the mobile “dongles” that you can view here.