VeriFone Systems Inc. is taking its PayWare Mobile point-of-sale service outside the United States for the first time and is adding acceptance for EMV chip-and-PIN cards and Near Field Communication-enabled devices, the company announced Feb. 14 at Mobile World Congress in Spain.
The new device, which includes a Payment Card Industry PIN-transaction security-certified PIN pad, will be available in Canada and the United Kingdom by the end of March. VeriFone also plans to introduce PayWare Mobile in other European countries, Latin America and Asia throughout 2011.
“PayWare Mobile struck a chord with micro merchants in North America,” Paul Rasori, VeriFone senior vice president of marketing, said in a press release. “VeriFone is now leveraging our global partnerships and distribution capabilities to provide a mobile-payment platform that supports regional demands for EMV, NFC-based applications, and secure, PCI-compliant PIN entry.”
VeriFone executives were not immediately available for comment.
Merchants using PayWare Mobile must work with VeriFone’s payment gateway, which processes transactions through First Data Corp. VeriFone, however, can configure a merchant’s account to work with other processors, the company has said in the past.
PayWare Mobile’s hardware is compatible with Apple Inc.’s iPhone. VeriFone also has PayWare Mobile applications for Windows Mobile phones, Research In Motion Ltd.’s BlackBerry devices and phones that use Google Inc.’s Android operating system.
The PIN-pad device only is available for the iPhone, but VeriFone is developing one for other devices, according to a company spokesperson.
In the United States, VeriFone uses a two-tier rate scheme for PayWare. Low-volume merchants with less than 1,500 monthly transactions pay a suggested retail rate of 2.75% of the sale plus 15 cents, but no monthly fee. They pay $99 for the accompanying card reader, which continues to sell for $149.95 on Apple Inc.’s website (
The suggested retail rate for higher-volume merchants is 1.65% plus 20 cents, but with $19.99 monthly fee, VeriFone says. The card reader is free with a two-year commitment, but there is a $29 activation fee.
VeriFone does not disclose its wholesale pricing, the company has said in the past. VeriFone’s resellers, such as merchant-service providers, set their own retail prices. VeriFone also does not sell merchant-processing accounts.
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