Streamline business operations with the Helcim Smart Terminal, a sleek piece of hardware equipped with a free mobile point of sale system.
WRITTEN & RESEARCHED BY
Expert Contributor
Last updated onUpdated
REVIEWED BY
Lead Staff Writer
| Total Rating | 4.2 |
|---|---|
| Pricing4.0 | |
| Ease Of Use4.9 | |
| Features3.7 | |
| Customer Service4.7 | |
| User Reviews4.1 | |
Table of Contents
Helcim Smart Terminal handheld POS login.
Helcim Smart Terminal is a mobile point of sale (POS) system that allows retail and service-based business owners to make sales, take digital payments, and print receipts from one handheld device.
The Helcim Smart Terminal only runs Helcim POS software and uses Helcim Payments for payment processing.
The Helcim Smart Terminal is an excellent fit for:
You should use a Helcim Smart Terminal alternative if you:
| Pricing4.0 |
|---|
| Hardware 4.5 |
| Payment Processsing 3.3 |
The Helcim Smart Terminal device itself costs $329 (or five monthly payments of $68) and has earned an above-average pricing rating. The device earns points because of its competitive pricing, built-in interchange-plus payment processing (which is great for midsize and larger sellers), and equipment financing options. We also like that you can sign up for a Helcim account with no credit card required and try out the software before ordering your handheld POS hardware.
It loses points mostly on the payment processing front for smaller sellers. If your average transaction size is $25 or less, you may end up paying more than industry-standard flat-rate payment processing rates (2.6% for in-person transactions and 2.9% for online transactions.)
The POS software that comes installed on the device is completely free. Helcim’s only recurring monthly fees are payment processing fees, which you must pay no matter which POS provider you choose to work with. There are no monthly fees for the POS app, online store builder, and customer account management tools.
You may be charged $15 for chargebacks, which Helcim will refund to your account if you win a chargeback dispute.
If you’re not sure whether you’ll need more POS hardware or how much it may cost, read our guide to POS hardware.
Note: Since we already subtracted points for Helcim not offering third-party payment processing options, we did not subtract points for having no fees for third-party payment processing.
While the Smart Terminal comes with two rolls of receipt paper, you will have to order refills eventually. You can purchase any type of paper that fits the device specs (2.24″ width, 1.57″ diameter, 0.002″-0.003″ paper thickness) from a store like Staples or online from Amazon.
Helcim Smart Terminal POS overall design.
The Helcim Smart Terminal is a sleek handheld POS system that’s easy to set up and navigate. It has a large screen, a tap card reader at the top, a swipe card reader on the right side of the mobile device, a chip card reader at the bottom, and a receipt printer above the screen. The charging port and the power button are on the left side.
In addition to the Smart Terminal, you also get two rolls of receipt paper, a charging cable (USB-C to USB-A), an additional USB-C cable, a charging cradle, and a QR code you can scan for more setup information. One receipt paper roll is already installed when you receive your Smart Terminal.
The most noticeable potential design issue is the size of the Smart Terminal. While you can carry it in apron pockets or your hands, it is slightly larger and heavier than a smartphone, so it may feel a little more unnatural. However, this is mostly due to the built-in contactless card reader at the top. I’m glad that the company didn’t make the screen smaller to compensate since I needed to search through products and customers to add them to orders, and smaller screens are harder to navigate.
If you’re looking for more handheld options, read our post on the best mobile POS systems.
Here’s a quick rundown of the Helcim Smart Terminal size, processing power, and other hardware features:
The main downside of the Smart Terminal’s design specs is the fact that you need Wi-Fi to operate the device.
The Helcim Smart Terminal is very easy to set up. There are no small parts to put together and no lengthy instruction manuals. There is a QR code you can scan at the bottom of the box for a simple guide, but you may not even need that. We simply had to load the printer paper, plug the device into an outlet with the included charger, wait for the battery to charge, and then follow the prompts when we turned on the device.
The POS software was pre-installed on the device, and we already had a Helcim account, so all we had to do was log onto the account with our account credentials. To sign up for a Helcim account, you simply answer a few questions about your business on your website, and a friendly Helcim representative will get your account set up. Most business owners have their accounts ready to go within a business day and receive their card readers within 2-3 business days.
There are a few other settings to customize, such as your tax and tip settings, employee login information (PIN vs password login), and device nickname, but otherwise, the setup was very straightforward.
| Ease Of Use4.9 |
|---|
| Initial Setup 4.7 |
| Device Use 5.0 |
The Helcim Smart Terminal earns a very high rating when it comes to ease of use. The hardware is easy to put together, does not require a representative to set up or maintain the hardware or software, has a simple charging setup, and is easy to connect to other devices like barcode scanners. The hardware has Helcim POS software pre-installed so all you have to do is charge up the device, turn it on, and customize the software settings.
To test out how easy the POS software is to use, I set up a test account for an art store that sells retail items directly to consumers and other businesses. I tested the online store builder and created an example subscription art supplies box to get a sense of the subscription management software built into Helcim. I also set up an example bridal shop that provides retail sales, services, and item rentals.
In general, I found it easy to set up and use Helcim for inventory management, employee management, and niche features like B2B customer management and membership management. Features like the online store builder and invoice creator have enough options to work for any business, but there are not so many customization options that you get overwhelmed.
| Features3.7 |
|---|
| Device Hardware Features 4.5 |
| Device Software Features 2.8 |
Helcim earns an average rating in the features category. It earns points because the hardware allows you to take virtually any payment type, print receipts with the built-in receipt printer or email receipts, track inventory and manually edit stock, add customers and invoices, and make exchanges and returns.
However, it loses points because you must be connected to Wi-Fi to take payments, the device does not connect to online marketplaces for online order fulfillment, and there’s a lack of integrations such as a loyalty program to incorporate into your checkout interface.
To test out Helcim’s Smart Terminal features more thoroughly, I set up a test Helcim account for an art store and performed several test transactions. In doing this, I could test inventory management functions, online sales capabilities, admin management features, and niche features such as comprehensive invoicing and B2B customer management. I also created an example bridal shop to test out service appointments such as dress preservations and item rentals such as veils.
Helcim Smart Terminal POS interface.
From the Helcim Smart Terminal handheld POS, you can:
I performed several test transactions with the POS app using the product lookup keys and others using the manual entry amount. I also linked end consumer and B2B customers to orders, and discounts attached to certain customers or customer groups populated when I linked them to an order. The system’s B2B customer management and invoicing features make Helcim one of the best retail POS systems for small to midsize businesses.
In addition to the Smart Terminal, you may also use Helcim on a desktop computer, tablet, or smartphone. This means that you can create more detailed custom orders and invoices from the Helcim admin office and use the Helcim Smart Terminal as a countertop card reader.
Create a new inventory item in Helcim POS.
Note: Most inventory management features are in the Helcim admin dashboard.
Helcim offers a lot of preset options when it comes to entering products and services. You can enter a product name, brand, cost, and price (in multiple currencies), create item variants, include add-ons, add products to a catalog, create tiered pricing structures, add wholesale pricing, and add advanced product details. Advanced product details include features like weight and dimensions, plus Level 3 data like units of measure and commodity codes.
Wholesale products are only available to designated wholesale customers, and you can set wholesale products to require a customer to log in to view wholesale pricing information. When testing Helcim’s inventory management functions, I created inventory items that can be purchased in small quantities by end consumers or in bulk by institutions such as schools. I designated “schools” as a unique customer group and created a percentage discount that can be applied to any large order from a school. I also created pricing tiers for B2B customers such as paint studios that encourage purchasing in larger quantities.
You can track inventory, easily modify inventory, and set low-stock alerts. If you use QuickBooks Online or another spreadsheet-based inventory/finance management tool, you can import and export product and service information.
While Helcim offers decent retail inventory management, these are the best retail inventory POS systems for large and complex inventory needs.
With Helcim, you have several ways to sell online, which include:
I created custom invoices using the invoice template designer. I then populated invoices with information such as business contact information, line items including products and shipping costs, applicable discounts, tax settings, deposit requests, and repayment terms. Repayment terms included a 60-day repayment schedule with a partial payment due at the 30-day mark. I sent a deposit request and the invoice itself via email to my test customer. Customizations were easy, and the invoices looked very professional.
On the Smart Terminal device, you can check for new orders that need to be picked and packed for shipping and BIPOS (buy online, pick up in-store.) You can turn on new order notifications so employees can quickly fulfill orders.
In-person invoice payments can be linked to invoice numbers or customers. You can search through invoices or find customers with the Smart Terminal, so you can take invoice payments out in the field instead of having to send invoices later on when you’re near a computer or tablet.
Helcim POS example art store invoice deposit request.
Helcim also offers some niche features, including a subscription manager and Level 3 card data entry. The subscription manager allows you to create very specific subscription settings and monitor customer activity. Level 3 card data entry is a great way to lower payment processing fees because there is more information available on payments from B2B/B2G (business to government), and transactions are more secure.
The Helcim Smart Terminal itself is a relatively new Helcim product, only launching in June 2023.
The company also recently launched a cash discount program with merchant accounts for business owners who would like to pass their credit/debit card processing fees to customers. The company will uniquely allow business owners to give customers the choice to pay a “convenience fee” if they choose to pay with a card or pay through a bank account, which has lower fees for business owners than card payments.
| Customer Service4.7 |
|---|
| Personal Support 5.0 |
| Self-Service 4.4 |
Helcim earns a high score in customer service because there are highly rated customer service reviews from real customers, it’s easy to talk to representatives over the phone or through support tickets, and the self-service help articles are easy to follow.
| Helcim Smart Terminal Customer Service | Availability |
|---|---|
| Phone Support | |
| Email Support | |
| Support Tickets | |
| Live Chat | |
| Dedicated Support Representative | |
| Knowledge Base or Help Center | |
| Videos & Tutorials | |
| Company Blog | |
| Social Media |
Helcim offers fast, high-quality customer support for US and Canadian merchants. Business owners can call customer support Monday – Friday from 9AM – 9PM EST, submit a support ticket from their Helcim dashboard, or send a help email and get a response within one business day.
Business owners can also check out Helcim’s learning center or YouTube videos to learn more about configuring their POS software.
Customers highlight the excellent customer support they receive when reviewing Helcim, and the company continues to show its commitment to providing transparent, attentive merchant services.
Helcim offers merchant accounts with transparent interchange-plus payment processing for all business owners without any minimum amount of revenue or time in business. Helcim has a tiered interchange-plus pricing model, which means that the more money your company makes and the higher your average transaction size, the lower your payment processing rates are.
It’s important to note that companies with low average transaction sizes ($15 – $25) will not benefit from Helcim’s payment processing fee model.
Your payment processing rates will update automatically based on your sales volumes over an average of three months. This means that if your business performs well in the summer, you’ll have lower payment processing rates at the end of it. If your business has a rough few months, though, you may see your processing rates increase by some measure.
Helcim is a great option for accepting premium, corporate, and government spend cards because you can enter Level 3 transaction data for any product or service.
Adding Level 3 data allows you to minimize payment processing risks and reduce payment processing fees when other businesses and government organizations use credit cards to make larger purchases. Examples of Level 3 data include invoice and order numbers, product and commodity codes, item description and quantity with the unit of measure, freight information, and duty information.
Business owners can estimate payment processing rates on the company’s pricing page based on their monthly sales volume, average transaction size, card type, percentage of in-person and online/keyed-in transactions, and industry.
Read our Helcim Payments review for more information on the company’s payment processing offering and setup.
Helcim is extremely honest about its month-to-month merchant agreement, with a detailed breakdown of merchant fees on the company website and a copy of Helcim’s merchant agreement available online for anyone to view.
The Helcim Smart Terminal itself is a one-time purchase. If you are not satisfied with your purchase, you may return it within 30 days of receiving your hardware. The device has a one-year warranty.
You can easily terminate your agreement with Helcim at any time by emailing [email protected] and following the instructions you are provided. There is no early cancellation fee associated with canceling your account.
Helcim may require a reserve of funding to cover any debt for transactions (chargeback fees, late fees, fees related to court decisions) initiated before terminating your agreement. The company will release any funding held after any debt is paid or after six months of termination, whichever comes first. This is a rare occurrence, and as long as your business operates above board, you won’t run into this situation.
The main concerns about Helcim are ensuring that your business type is supported before signing up for an account, making sure your business is verified by a Helcim representative, and making sure that Helcim has enough functionalities for your business type.
Helcim users have reported account cancellations due to their businesses being considered high-risk. The company provides an acceptable use policy online explicitly detailing the types of businesses Helcim will not work with. If you’re not sure whether your business can work with Helcim, contact a Helcim representative before signing up for a merchant account.
| User Reviews4.1 |
|---|
| Customer Feedback 4.0 |
| Review Site Aggregate 4.2 |
Helcim earns a high rating in customer service reviews because there are several positive genuine, non-incentivized reviews, earning the following scores from popular review platforms:
Note: Helcim’s POS app and Smart Terminal are relatively new, which explains the lower number of software reviews on G2 and GetApp.
Let’s take a closer look at Helcim versus some of its top competitors.
Clover Flex handheld POS system.
The Clover Flex has a very similar design to the Smart Terminal and allows you to connect your own merchant account to your Clover POS software and card reader.
However, the Clover Flex comes with access to Clover’s app market, which offers over 400 integrations to popular third-party software. Also, Clover Flex hardware is compatible with more than one merchant account provider, but you run the risk of getting a less transparent merchant account than if you get a merchant account with Helcim.
We recommend the Smart Terminal over the Clover Flex if you’re looking for more self-contained POS software and a guaranteed transparent merchant agreement with fair interchange-plus payment processing fees. We recommend the Clover Flex as a Helcim Smart Terminal alternative if you need a high-risk merchant account, which Helcim won’t provide.
Read our Clover Flex review for an in-depth analysis of the device setup, features, and unique pricing structure.
Square Terminal credit card reader connected to the Square POS app on a smartphone.
The Square Terminal is Square’s proprietary handheld POS system, which can run Square For Retail, Square Appointments, and Square For Restaurants software.
Square, like Helcim, offers free POS software and affordable POS hardware. However, Square offers flat-rate payment processing for almost all businesses, which is not a cost-effective solution for businesses with larger monthly transaction volumes.
We recommend the Helcim Smart Terminal over Square if you own a retail or service business that processes $5,000+/month, and Square as a Helcim alternative if you have a smaller business in the retail, restaurant, or service industry. We also believe that Square is one of the best salon POS systems, especially for small salons accepting appointments, so consider Square if you own a salon or spa.
Read our Square Terminal review to learn more about how you can use it for your retail, restaurant, or service-based business and our Square POS app review for more information on the best free Square features.
Shopify POS Go handheld POS system.
The Shopify POS Go is a relatively new handheld Android POS system built for retailers who want excellent eCommerce features in addition to POS capabilities. It’s great for picking and packing orders for in-store pickup and shipping, as well as taking mobile orders at trade shows or events.
However, like Square, Shopify offers flat-rate payment processing for most business owners, which is not cost-effective for many small-to-midsize businesses.
We recommend Shopify as a Helcim alternative if you’re looking for one of the best POS systems with eCommerce features. You should stick with Helcim if you only need a straightforward online store builder or virtual terminal for invoices and want better payment processing rates.
Read our Shopify POS review for more on how Shopify in-person and eCommerce sales work together to create a multichannel retail sales solution.
We believe that Helcim is one of the best POS systems for businesses in the retail, subscription, and/or service industries, especially B2B and B2G businesses, with higher average transaction sizes and higher monthly sales volumes. This is because larger businesses will be charged lower per-transaction payment processing fees under Helcim’s interchange-plus payment processing model.
The Helcim Smart Terminal itself is a great option for service-based businesses needing to generate and accept payments on invoices when they’re not near a computer and for retailers that can search through an inventory database to create simple orders or accept manually entered payment amounts. It also works as a sleek countertop card reader for businesses of all sizes and in most industries.
We appreciate Helcim’s transparent pricing structure, month-to-month contracts, free POS and online store builder, invoicing features, and B2B/subscription customer management portals. We also appreciate a free POS system, especially one that works on any device, and believe that Helcim is one of the best free POS systems available.
We do not recommend Helcim for restaurants, but if the price point of Helcim is what draws you, read up on our best free restaurant POS systems.
We spend hours researching and evaluating each POS hardware and mobile payments device that we review at Merchant Maverick, placing special emphasis on key characteristics to generate our product ratings.
When rating POS hardware (which might include registers, mobile card readers, and other similar devices), we use a 38-point rubric that looks at pricing, ease of use, features, customer service, and user reviews. We weigh each section differently to calculate the total star rating.
Each section is further broken down into granular, weighted subsections, in which we look at specific attributes, like whether reduced fees are available for multiple terminals, which payment processing options are available, and how well the hardware integrates with POS or payment processing software apps. We’re also paying careful attention to hardware’s relative cost, any associated fees, and whether financing is available, among other things.
Learn more about how we rate POS hardware.
The Merchant Maverick Seal of Approval 🏆
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Helcim Smart Terminal
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After hours of in-depth research and evaluation, we can confidently recommend this brand to our readers. Get started today and see Helcim Smart Terminal for yourself.
The Merchant Maverick Seal of Approval 🏆
|
Helcim Smart Terminal
|
|---|
After hours of in-depth research and evaluation, we can confidently recommend this brand to our readers. Get started today and see Helcim Smart Terminal for yourself.
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The vendors that appear on this list were chosen by subject matter experts on the basis of product quality, wide usage and availability, and positive reputation.
Merchant Maverick’s ratings are editorial in nature, and are not aggregated from user reviews. Each staff reviewer at Merchant Maverick is a subject matter expert with experience researching, testing, and evaluating small business software and services. The rating of this company or service is based on the author’s expert opinion and analysis of the product, and assessed and seconded by another subject matter expert on staff before publication. Merchant Maverick’s ratings are not influenced by affiliate partnerships.
Our unbiased reviews and content are supported in part by affiliate partnerships, and we adhere to strict guidelines to preserve editorial integrity. The editorial content on this page is not provided by any of the companies mentioned and has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities. Opinions expressed here are author’s alone.
Our team of experts spends hours on every review so that we can find the best companies to recommend to our readers. Helcim Smart Terminal made the cut.
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