Small businesses in the United Kingdom have few options when it comes to accepting EMV chip-and-PIN cards on smartphones.
VeriFone Systems Inc. took its PayWare Mobile point-of-sale service outside the United States for the first time in February when it added acceptance for EMV chip-and-PIN cards and Near Field Communication-enabled devices (
Elavon Inc. is about to do the same, at least on the EMV front.
The U.S. Bancorp subsidiary announced Jan. 4 that it is testing mobile acceptance in the region through its proprietary smartphone application and chip-and-PIN device. It plans to conduct a full rollout in March, according to a press release.
Elavon released MobileMerchant in the United States in 2011. Company executives were not immediately available for additional comment.
Merchants that use MobileMerchant download an app that works with a Bluetooth-connected chip-and-PIN terminal that captures and encrypts card data to ensure no information is stored in the smartphone.
Consumers receive receipts from purchases either through email or text message.
MobileMerchant is available for Research In Motion Ltd.’s Blackberry phones and mobile devices powered by Google Inc.’s Android operating system.
Elavon’s UK presence is significant on two fronts, notes Todd Ablowitz, president of Centennial, Colo.-based consulting firm Double Diamond Group LLC.
“There is nothing really remotely widespread,” Ablowitz says about mobile-acceptance hardware in Europe. “Our research says, where smartphone adoption is growing, smartphone card acceptance will grow quickly, and that’s happening in the UK.”
A merchant using mobile-acceptance hardware also is a security improvement for those that might be entering card information into a potentially unsafe mobile app, Ablowitz says. “Merchants are potentially taking some risk when using those apps,” he adds.
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