Hoping to appeal to small merchants looking for a means to process payment card transactions through mobile devices, Impact PaySystem LLC has begun offering a card-swipe device from iPhoneSwiper, initially for free, the companies announced March 5.
The Memphis-based independent sales organization is providing the payment gateway for the iPhoneSwiper terminal, which connects to Apple Inc.’s iPhone 3G and 3GS and iPodTouch.
Impact PaySystem is making the device available for free for the next 90 days to both mobile and brick-and-mortar merchants, Emily Karawadra, Impact PaySystem chief operating officer, tells PaymentsSource. After the three-month period, merchants pay $399 for the terminal, though Impact PaySystem may decide to extend the free offer after three months, Karawadra says.
The portable card-acceptance device includes a free downloadable application available from Apple’s online application store, a magnetic stripe reader, an integrated terminal printer for paper receipts, and a barcode scanner accessory that works with the device to enable merchants to scan and manage product barcodes at the time of purchase.
The application enables merchants to list and control all their products and automatically updates their databases and inventory while orders are placed. In doing so, merchants may see which products sell the best, which do not sell and which sell out. Once merchants download the application, they may put their mobile device into the cradle of the terminal to begin initiating transactions, according to Karawadra.
The card-swipe attachment also encrypts card data before the mobile device sends the payment information to the payment gateway for processing, Karawadra says.
Merchants pay Impact PaySystem a $15 monthly gateway fee plus a 20-cent fee per transaction. Merchants also pay a percentage of the sale, which starts at 1.49%, depending on the card, Karawadra says.
For merchants that want a printer and a barcode scanner, receiving the terminal reader for free is important, says Todd Ablowitz, president of Centennial, Colo.-based Double Diamond Group LLC. But the swiper has several limitations, such as it will not fit every type of phone and does not fit the newest version of the iPhone, Ablowitz says.
Moreover, other companies offer mobile payment-acceptance devices and services for much lower costs, including free readers and no monthly fees, Ablowitz notes.
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