VeriFone Holdings Inc.’s Payware Mobile payment software for Apple Inc.’s iPhone is available from Apple’s iTunes store, the San Jose, Calif.-based terminal maker says.
VeriFone originally announced the service in December to make it simpler for merchants, such as small cafes, to begin accepting payment cards, the company says.
The pre-order response was “phenomenal,” VeriFone says, declining to back up the claim with data.
VeriFone is in the process of signing resellers, such as ISOs, which could benefit from offering this and similar mobile-phone point-of-sale services because they attract merchants, such as farm stand vendors who previously did not accept payment cards, VeriFone says.
The service and device originally were to be available Jan. 15. “Payware Mobile was one of the very first hardware/software combinations that Apple had to certify and the very first for this class of device, so the approval process was slightly delayed due to working out the kinks,” a VeriFone spokesperson says.
Merchants also receive a card reader, which slips around the phone, that encrypts sensitive card data at the swipe, VeriFone says, noting it does not send unencrypted card data through the software on the phone because it uses VeriFone’s VeriShield protection to encrypt payment data. The reader is free, but normal shipping charges apply, VeriFone says.
Merchants that obtain the Payware Mobile service through an ISO will receive the reader at no cost if they sign a two-year agreement, VeriFone says.
Merchants that do not want a two-year deal, such as seasonal merchants who operate a few months out of a year, may buy a reader, the spokesperson says. The reader will be available through POS-equipment distributors The Phoenix Group of O’Fallon, Mo., and Tasq Technology Inc. of Rocklin, Calif., which will set the prices for the readers.
Security
The free software meets the Payment Card Industry Security Standard Council’s Payment Application Data Security Standard, VeriFone says.
Transactions made with Payware Mobile are sent via the iPhone’s Wi-Fi or telecommunication connection to VeriFone’s gateway for routing to appropriate processors.
Merchants with existing merchant accounts will pay a $15 monthly gateway fee and a one-time $49 sign-up fee. Payment gateways enable online connectivity to multiple processors. Merchants also pay VeriFone 17 cents per Payware Mobile transaction.
VeriFone says these are retail prices but would not disclose wholesale pricing.
VeriFone will direct merchants without existing accounts to a variety of payment processors, and it will sell the product directly and through acquirers and ISOs, which will offer their own pricing.
The terminal maker plans to use online social-media methods, such as videos on YouTube, to promote the service.
