Roam Data is making available a Roampay Swipe card reader that plugs into the audio jack of BlackBerry smartphones, the Boston-based firm announced Nov. 30.
Using the reader enables merchants to accept cards and pay card-present transaction rates, says Rob Stringer, Roam Data vice president of marketing and products. Independent sales organizations and other payment companies 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 says.
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, but development of a BlackBerry version took longer because of phone’s software, Stringer says.
An iPhone or an Android device can send and receive encrypted data between the phone software and the reader simultaneously, something Research In Motion Ltd.’s BlackBerry devices do not allow, Stringer says. Roam Data had to ensure its payment software would properly work in a one-way-at-a-time environment, Stringer notes.
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 adds.
The reader also is available from Ingenico S.A., a France-based payment-terminal maker and an investor in Roam Data (
In another update, Roam Data says merchants using its service now may add wireless lines to their accounts. This option could save merchants from having to buy new devices because employees could use their own compatible phones as Roam Data mobile POS terminals. Transaction data still are sent to the merchant’s master account, Stringer says.
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