Many small merchants, from food truck vendors to hair stylists, use mobile payments to process their transactions. They’re convenient, simple and often come with handy features like receipt delivery and reports. But should small businesses always turn to the first processor they see? Even though companies like Square and PayPal Here dominate the conversation, they’re not always the best choice.

PayPal Here is ideal for merchants who:

  • Do less than five figures in sales a month AND
  • Have an average transaction under $17 OR
  • Have an average transaction under $26 and take American Express cards

Square’s monthly subscription plan is best for merchants who:

  • Do 5-6 digits in sales every month AND
  • Have very few transactions over $400 AND
  • Key in very few transactions
  • There are a few other tips available to businesses:
  • Dwolla is one of the best processors out there, but it requires both customer and merchant to have signed up for an account, adding friction to the transaction process.
  • Online donations from companies like Frendo or through portals like American Express Members Give can offer transaction discounts for registered nonprofits.
  • American Express can be costly: Bank of America BAC -1.47%’s Mobile Pay on Demand, Breadcrumb by Groupon and Intuit INTU +0.51% GoPayment all charge extra to take the high-end cards.