Aside from specifications, what’s the real user experience of these terminals? Signature capture terminals are rapidly growing with the increase in low cost cloud payment technology to run them. This article compares actual user experience differences. The Equinox L5200 and L5300 and the Ingenico ISC 250 touch and ISC 350 touch review highlights are below.
Ingenico, Verifone, and Equinox (previously Hypercom) are the top three terminal suppliers in the USA, per the US Department of Justice in 2011. (Verifone wanted to buy Hypercom). They’re likely leaders for signature capture terminals. Hypercom is credited with inventing credit card terminals, changing the world forever. The equipment listed here was designed to be future proof; they’re made to support current and future payment types without the need to replace equipment.
The ISC 250 is the little brother to the ISC 350. The L5200 is the little brother to the L5300. Other than the screen size and physical footprint, the units are nearly identical. Merchants have been quite happy with the cheaper (smaller) terminals. NOTE: IMAGES ARE NOT PROPORTIONALLY SIZED TO SHOW DIFFERENCES IN ACTUAL SIZE.
Equinox L5200- above
| ITEM | INGENICO ISC Touch 250 | EQUINOX L5200- BEST BUY | INGENICO ISC Touch 350 | EQUINOX L5300 |
| Pricing* | MSRP $891 with key injection, all cables, 1 year manufacturer warranty. Swivel stand $89 extra. | Estimated final price $775 with key injection, all cables, standard 3 year manufacturer warranty, optional NFC, and optional 3 year overnight replacement included. | Estimated MSRP $991 with key injection, all cables, 1 year manufacturer warranty. Swivel stand $89 extra. | Estimated final price $875 with key injection, all cables, standard 3 year manufacturer warranty, optional NFC, and optional 3 year overnight replacement included. |
| Memory | internal: 128 MB flash NAND, 64 MB SDRAMexternal: supporting up to 32 GB | internal: 256 MB Flash, 128 MB SDRAMexternal: MicroSD port | internal: 128 MB flash NAND, 128 MB SDRAMexternal: supporting up to 38 GB | SAME AS L5200 |
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| Display | Color: YesSize 4.3”Resolution: 480 x 272Touch screen: Projected capacitive technologyFinger and stylus touch | Color: WQVGA, 18-bit, 256KSize 4.3” diagonal display, LCDResolution: 480 x 272 pixels | Color 240K colorsSize 5.7”Resolution: 640 x 480, 4:3Touch screen: Projected capacitive technology;Finger and stylus touch | Color: WQVGA, 18-bit, 256KSize 5.7” LCDResolution: 640 x 480Touch screen: Integrated capacitive, glass top makes screen brighter and scratch resistant.Optional decorative bezel |
| Card Reader | Standard: MagStripe, Signature Capture. EMV Chip & PIN, Chip & Sign, NFC contactless capable; NFC supports new payment options including ewallets. |
Standard: MagStripe, Signature Capture. EMV Chip & PIN, Chip & Sign capable; Optional NFC Contactless, supports new payment options including all major ewallets. | Same as ISC250 | SAME AS L5200 |
| PCI & APPROVALS | PCI PTS V3 |
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PCI PTS 2.x certified |
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| Pin debit |
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SAME AS L5200 |
| Communications | USB 2.0, RS232, ethernet | USB and powered USB, RS232, ethernet | same as ISC 250 | SAME AS L5200 |
| OTHER |
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SAM = Secure Access Module slots
* Prices include power supply, cables, software loading, debit key injection, and everything physical needed to plug in the machine and run it.
Merchants also need a payment gateway, such as CenPOS, to securely accept payments and run the terminals. The gateway may enable users to login to a secure web page to process payments; others may require integrated POS software.
MANUFACTURE WARRANTY & REPAIR NOTICE: Because these devices are more like computers than older style terminals, it’s recommended merchants purchase either an overnight replacement solution or have additional units on hand as a back up.
- The typical manufacturer time to repair units under warranty is 8 weeks.
- The typical cost to diagnose a unit problem not under warranty is $150.
- Overnight repair service must be purchased at the same time the unit is purchased. Costs range up to $299 per unit.
Data obtained from publicly available information on the respective manufacturer web sites as of March 2014. In some cases, data was not readily available to compare the exact features, however, the terminal may have them. Merchants are encouraged to conduct their own research for comparative information not covered here and for general fact checking.
SPECIAL NOTICE REGARDING EMV
Although all terminals were designed to be future proof, they do not support all features out of the box. To accept EMV chip cards, the gateway must certify the terminal to each processor; the same applies for P2PE encryption. Due to the expense and other reasons, some terminals may never be certified for EMV or P2PE.
Very well done review. There are much lower cost alternatives if one looks outside the Big 2 (Ingenico and VeriFone) and Little 1 (Equinox/NBS). At 50% of the cost of the above the buyer gets a device that can do almost everything the pricey models can do. Missing may be the sophisticated support software and potential lower level of technical help and documentation.
Keeping in mind this article is specifically about signature capture terminals connected to a payment gateway, I believe you’re referring to price differences related to Class A terminals and Class B terminals. Various parties, including acquirers, will help with support Class A terminal troubleshooting if there’s a problem, but not so with Class B. Additionally, the same concerns apply for P2PE and EMV. Will gateways certify Class B terminals for EMV and P2PE, and to which processors? Will that meet user needs?