Credit Card Payment Apps to be launched for iPhone, iTouch
The developers of the top mobile phone device on the market, the iPhone, will soon be releasing a new application for swiping and processing credit card payments.
Mophie will introduce a credit card reader which could be installed as an add-on to the iPhone and the iTouch. The innovation will allow small merchants to process payments via credit cards anywhere at anytime.
The small gadget simply has to be attached to the audio socket on the iTouch or iPhone. The device will be unveiled at the Las Vegas Consumer Electronics Show this month.
Competition heats up as Twitter founder Jack Dorsey has also announced that they would be coming our with a portable credit card reader called ‘Square’, initially as an add-on to the iPhone and iTouch and eventually for all cell phone types. Moreover, Verifone Holding will also be introducing PayWare Mobile, a new device which will also allow cell phones to function as credit card readers.
All these new innovations run on software for smart phones, mostly third party applications, which operate via the internet.
It is anticipated that the card readers from the likes of Mophie will pave the way for the potential market demand of ‘point-of-sale’ wireless credit transaction terminals. Cash transactions may increasingly be replaced as this new technology may also be a means of collecting payments as well.
Dorsey explained that their product will enable users to process credit transactions with less hassle since there would be no need to maintain merchant accounts.
The developers of ‘Square’ intends to take a fair share out of the lucrative credit market which will allow typical smart phone owners and small entrepreneurships to avail of their own merchant accounts, as provided by the developer. This will effectively save logistics costs and enable a plethora of customers and businesses to gain easier access to facilitating hassle-free credit card transactions.
With the new advancements, the potential for smart phone owners themselves is limitless. For instance, the innovation could be used when purchasing products online and for even more personal pursuits such as holding a yard sale or charity events.
However, since the technology is still yet to be ironed out, ‘Square’ founders and other credit card add-on developers will have to look into the logistics aspects. Several skeptics say it’s a far cry from reality that credit card owners themselves will successfully be enabled to become like credit merchants.
Incidentally, in December last year, ‘Square’ was accused of using a technology patent which does not belong to the company. Prof. Bob Morley of Washington University is reportedly the inventor of the patent but it was allegedly used by co-founder Jim McKelvey.
