Jon Gilbert of e-onlinedata shows WHIR editor Liam Eagle its new AppCharge mobile payment technology
PowerPay, the parent company of online payment processor e-onlinedata, announced on Monday that it has launched its technology that turns mobile devices into a terminal.
Called AppCharge, the payment technology is compatible with any iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch and many Android devices, and is available in the iTunes store or Google Play marketplace.
AppCharge enables merchants to process payments in real time at a trade show, at home, or on the road. It comes with a card reader and features touchpad signature for customers to sign for transactions directly on the device.
Mobile payment platforms are becoming more popular as evidenced by the recent $31.4 million in Series B funding closed by iZettle, a European iOS mobile payment system. iZettle is available in Scandinavia and the UK with 50,000 merchants. Its US equivalent – Square – has reached more than two million merchants, and estimates that it processes up to about $6 billion per year, TechCrunch says. Last week, Square hired former Goldman Sachs and Salesforce.com executive Sarah Friar as chief financial officer. The executive team and their past experience in payment processing and mobile will be an important factor in competing in the mobile payments space.
A sponsor of WHIR networking events, e-onlinedata works with web hosts to provide payment processing. PowerPay’s AppCharge technology could be used in a trade show setting, but it would not likely apply to the hosting industry in this way. Instead, web hosts could offer AppCharge as a mobile payments solution for small business customers like taxi companies.
In a video interview with WHIR editor Liam Eagle, Jon Gilbert senior manager, business development at e-onlinedata, shows how the AppCharge solution works. In the interview, Gilbert says rates are as low as 1.79 percent and $0.25 per transaction. Square charges 2.75 percent per swipe, according to its website.
“Appcharge is the perfect solution for business on the go,” Derek Cyr, product development manager with PowerPay said in a statement. “We wanted to create a simple and secure product that gave merchants all the features of a robust merchant account and terminal, with the freedom to process just about anywhere and at a fraction of the cost. By offering 24/7 technical support and higher transaction limits, we are meeting the needs of businesses who expect more from their processing partner.”
With AppCharge, electronic receipts can be emailed to customers, and merchants can make a complete inventory list for itemized receipts.
“PowerPay is constantly investing in technology and looking to provide additional benefits for our merchants,” Jim Raftice, president of PowerPay said in a statement. “With AppCharge, our customers can easily take advantage of the power of mobile technology to provide a new, real-time payment option to their customers, creating additional convenience and security, as well as a cost effective business solution.”
PowerPay was launched in 2003 and provides integrated ecommerce, industry and point-of-sale payment processing solutions.
Talk back: Are your SMB customers using mobile payment technology? Is this something you would offer your customers? Let us know in a comment.
About Nicole Henderson
Nicole Henderson is the Editor in Chief of the Web Host Industry Review where she covers daily news and features online, as well as in print. She has a bachelor of journalism from Ryerson University in Toronto. You can find her on Twitter @NicoleHenderson.
