Mobile payment systems are quite popular right now.
Square, Inc., the mobile payment service founded by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, aims for a mass rollout of its much mobile payment product by the end of Summer. Visa and Bank of America are rolling out a mobile payment system based on Visa payWave technology and using a system called In2Pay, starting in New York this September.
Now Mophie is entering the fray.
According to a statement on Mophie’s site, Mophie is partnering with Intuit on what they are calling, “Complete Credit Card Solution for iPhone.”
Mophie, known for their battery extending options, is combining its resources with Intuit, “a leading provider of business and financial management solutions for small and mid-sized businesses; financial institutions, including banks and credit unions; consumers and accounting professionals,” on a mobile payment solution for iPhone owners.
According to the statement, the system “integrates Intuit’s GoPayment credit card processing app and quick-to-activate merchant account with the mophie marketplace credit card reader. This package is now available in Apple Retail Stores and soon on Apple.com”
How does it work?
- A user can apply for the service from the GoPayment App, online or by calling Intuit right from their iPhone.
- iPhone owners will then add a clip-on mophie marketplace card reader to their device.
- Merchants securely swipe the credit cards instead of entering numbers by hand.
- After swiping the card, data is immediately encrypted using Intuit’s industry-standard security methods.
- Customers authorize the payment by signing their name on the iPhone touch screen. The merchant can then send them an e-mail or text receipt.
- GoPayment processes the credit card within seconds and funds are deposited into the businesses’ bank account.
An additional option lets businesses integrate GoPayment with QuickBooks Mac to easily and quickly match the right customer and invoice in QuickBooks.
The service is priced as follows:
- The Complete Credit Card Solution from Intuit and Mophie is available for the iPhone 3G and 3GS for $179.95 at Apple Retail Stores and soon on Apple.com.
- GoPayment, including the Intuit merchant account, offers competitive pricing at $12.95 a month, a 1.7 to 3.7 percent discount rate and $0.30 to $0.34 per transaction fee. There are no long-term contracts, cancellation, gateway or set-up fees, and one account can enable up to 50 users.
Compare that to Square, priced at 2.75% + $.15 if a credit card is present, and 3.5% + $.15 when a card is keyed into the Square app, with no setup fees or other additional fees required.
Should Square be concerned? Not at this point. Square’s card reader is compatible with any iPhone 3G/3GS, and iPhone 4, while Mophie’s option is a case designed for only iPhone 3G/3GS at this point. That said, the added QuickBooks functionality and instant availability of the product makes it stiff competition for Square, especially for mid to large companies looking for an all-in-one payment management system.
What do you think? In the mobile payment sphere who currently holds the stronger position, Mophie/Intuit or Square?
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