using iPhone to accept credit card payments

[haven]

A company called Square has released a product for the iPhone that allows individuals to accept credit card payments without having a merchant account with a bank.

Until now, to accept credit card payments you needed to purchase an expensive credit card machine and pay a bank a monthly fee to be part of a credit card network. Most banks have a monthly minimum volume of transactions, too.

With Square, there are no contracts, no setup fees, no minimums, and no extra equipment to buy. Anyone with an iPhone can have the ability to accept payment by credit card. There's a transaction fee, but it's pretty reasonable.

The product has two parts. First is a small, cube-shaped card reader that plugs into the headphone port of the iPhone or iPad. Second is an application that captures the data from the card reader, uploads to the Square credit card processing system, and issues a receipt to the credit card's owner by email.

There are two neat features that you can include with the transaction. You can take a photo of the person buying the product, or of the merchandise being purchased, and attach to the receipt. And the iPhone can attach GPS information so the purchaser knows where the transaction took place.

The Square application keeps track of purchases made and cash received. By signing on to your seller's account at the Square website, you can produce a variety of reports that help manage your finances.

Now the bad news: Square charges 2.75% plus 15 cents for each transaction. This is similar to the fee charged to the seller by Paypal and Google Checkout.

Today, Square works with iPhone/iPad and with Android phones. More platforms will be supported in the future.

Here's a brainless youtube video that shows how a Square transaction works
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0BwYz1P0BE

The Square website is http://www.squareup.com

 

[Beowulf]

Ok, that is pretty cool. I can see it being really handy for little merchants and homemade goods.

 

[Brandon Libby]

I like this a lot. However, with identity theft on the rise it may difficult for customers to trust this app.

 

[haven]

Square, the company that makes the card reader and transaction software, now offers a version for smart phones running Android, including the Droid, Droid 2, Droid Incredible, HTC Evo 4G, Samsung Galaxy, Google Nexus One, and others.

I've read several reports from early adopters that the card reader needs a small circle of electrical tape at the base of the input jack to keep it from shorting out against the metal band around the iPhone 4. Others say the card reader software doesn't reliably read the card swipes, resulting in several swipes to get the card info. Others report that after a bit of practice, they have learned that a slow and steady pull of the card through the reader is the best way to achieve success.

 

[haven]

Mophie and Intuit have created a credit card processing solution for iPhone containing the Mophie Marketplace card reader and Intuit GoPayment software. Together, the two are called the "Complete Credit Card Processing Solution."

Intuit, the software company well known for their Quickbooks accounting software, offers a range of business services, including credit card processing via mobile phone called GoPayment. GoPayment can transfer data on credit card transactions to Quickbooks.

GoPayment is a little pricy. You have to pay $13 a month for an account. Swiped transactions cost 1.7%, plus 30 cents. The good news is that there is no monthly minimum, and no fee to sign up.

Mophie is a company known for iPhone accessories. Mophie's card reader attaches to the 30 pin input at the bottom of the iPhone. The product only works with the iPhone 3G and 3GS models today.

The company web site shows the Marketplace card reader to be on backorder. Perhaps new stock will work with the iPhone 4, too.

Here's an article from Wired Magazine about this product
http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2010...-mobile-credit-with-a-little-help-from-apple/

 

[haven]

MacAlly is selling a credit card reader for the iPhone called Swipe It. Its larger than the Square or Mophie readers, and looks a lot like traditional card readers you see in the grocery checkout line. The Swipe It doesn't do anything more than read the credit card. You have to figure out how to integrate the information with a card processing application.

Here's on vendor's page about the Swipe It, which sells for $120-$130.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/709385-REG/Macally_SWIPEIT_SwipeIt_Secure_Credit_Card.html

 

[moblcom]

Here's another great app and card reader for the iPhone, iPad, and Android! They offer live customer support and will guide you through every step of the process.

PhoneSwipe

 

[haven]

Hi mobicom,

Do I assume correctly that you are connected to Moblized.com in some way? I can find the company web site, but no independent reviews of Moblized, or of Phoneswipe, the iPhone product. Can you share a link to a review?

 

[Honu]

I would never do business with a company that is not honest and tries stuff like this

Here's another great app and card reader for the iPhone, iPad, and Android! They offer live customer support and will guide you through every step of the process.

PhoneSwipe

Reason I saw this researching new CC info today which we do very year or so for our biz

 

[Corey]

mobicom is a spammer, and found this thread via Google no doubt.

 

[Token]

We've been using Square at our office for about 6 months and it's been doing great.. We're a contractor in construction and most of our customers pay by check, but there are a few that pay by CC.. All of our quotes have a line in the billing clauses that states credit card payments incur a 3% surchage..

Ironically the ONLY person to ever complain about it did so on the front end and it turned out they were trying to put the charge of about $7500 across 3 credit cards.. All of them stolen..

 

[nwoods]

Another ExPo member (CBradley) has been using Square inconjunction with the Appleseed Project to accept payment right on the range. I'll ask him how it's working for him.