Roam Data Inc. is expanding its mobile card reader technology to BlackBerry users.
The Boston company is making its Roampay Swipe device compatible with Research In Motion Ltd.'s smart phones. The news was announced Tuesday.
The reader plugs into a BlackBerry's audio jack, letting merchants accept cards and pay card-present transaction rates, which are cheaper than card-not-present rates, Rob Stringer, Roam Data's vice president of marketing and products, said in an interview.
Independent sales organizations and other payment companies, including Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.'s First Data Corp. and JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s Chase Paymentech Solutions LLC, resell Roam Data's mobile merchant services.
Roam Data charges $44.95 for the Roampay Swipe device, but resellers may mark up the price or give it away, Stringer said.
Roam Data's card readers have been available since this summer for Apple Inc.'s iPhone and smartphones using Google Inc.'s Android operating system.
Developing a BlackBerry version took longer because of the phone's software, he said.
An iPhone or an Android device can send and receive encrypted data between the phone software and the reader simultaneously, something BlackBerry devices do not allow, Stringer said.
Roam Data had to ensure its payment software would work properly in a one-way-at-a-time environment, Stringer said.
Merchants also may use the BlackBerry version of the reader with Roam Data's virtual point of sale terminal to enable card-present transactions using a computer, he said.
The reader also is available from Ingenico SA, a French payment terminal maker and an investor in Roam Data.
In another update, Roam Data said merchants using its service can now add wireless lines to their accounts.
This prevents them from having to buy new devices because employees could use their own compatible phones as Roam Data mobile POS terminals.
