A Pair of Mobile Merchant Apps Debut with Tech Twists

Two new payment applications debuted this week to allow plumbers, pizza-delivery services, and other mobile merchants to accept card transactions on mobile phones. The new apps, from Charge Anywhere LLC and TSYS Acquiring Solutions, follow in line behind a steady flow of such products that have launched this year. But both are backed by new technologies that introduce new twists to this rapidly growing crowd of products. South Plainfield, N.J.-based mobile-payments gateway provider Charge Anywhere, which earlier this year introduced a payments app for mobile merchants, has added near-field communication (NFC) capability to that software, known as version 2.0.0. Using a phone equipped with the new software and an NFC chipset, a mobile merchant can process a payment by tapping a customer's contactless card on the handset. The phone can link wirelessly via Bluetooth to a device that can print a receipt and also features a card swipe. The software currently works on the Nokia 6216 classic, which the Finnish handset maker introduced this spring as the first mobile phone with fully integrated NFC technology (Digital Transactions News, April 29). As other phones become available with NFC capability, Charge Anywhere may add the software to them, as well, says James Dugan, the company's chief financial officer. Right now, “there's just no BlackBerry NFC phones out there,” he says. The basic mobile-payments software currently works on BlackBerry devices as well as those using the J2ME, Windows Mobile, and Android operating systems. A version for Apple Inc.'s iPhone is in development, Dugan says. Though Nokia seemed to stress markets outside North America when it launched the 6216, Dugan says conversations he's had with Nokia officials indicate the handset maker will launch the device in the U.S. in the not too distant future. The new software, which Charge Anywhere developed in-house and is currently in what Dugan calls a “beta” phase, is available to resellers for a price he says could come in under $100, depending on commitment levels. The printer/card swipe, available from Charge Anywhere, is another $199. He says there is no timeline to commercial rollout. “We don't currently have orders,” Dugan says. “We're still working with Nokia and are in the process of getting some pilots together.” Charge Anywhere's announcement followed by hours one by TSYS Acquiring Solutions for its new MobilePASS product, which likewise enables mobile merchants to process card payments and works wirelessly with a combination receipt printer/card swipe. Bob Philbin, president of the Tempe, Ariz.-based unit of Columbus, Ga.-based processor TSYS Inc., tells Digital Transactions News the company expects to introduce versions of the product that will let merchants process on their mobile phones a wide range of transactions, including loyalty points, automated clearing house payments, and prepaid payroll transactions. “We're in the process of working out the kinks of that,” he says. A consumer version of the application is also expected by the end of March, he says. While the company is mum about details, the app would let consumers perform transactions at the point of sale with their handsets without necessarily relying on NFC technology, says Ashim Banerjee, chief information officer at TSYS Acquiring Solutions. The introduction of new versions of the app is facilitated by a new platform at TSYS Acquiring Solutions that makes use of a TSYS host, a middleware server from Infonox, a company TSYS acquired for $50 million nearly a year ago, and an application programming interface (API). “We're looking at a comprehensive mobile-payments strategy,” says Banerjee. The MobilePASS app differs from those already on the market in that it offers immediate usability for TSYS merchants, Banerjee says. A merchant can download the app after entering a merchant and terminal ID, and then “they can get started right off the bat as if we had shipped them a terminal,” Banerjee says. The app carries a setup fee, but since TSYS is selling the product through its network of acquirers, company officials won't give pricing details. Banerjee calls it a “fairly nominal” fee. Susan Sheen, senior director of sales and marketing at TSYS Acquiring Solutions, says “the response rate is very favorable” from resellers. Already this year, such applications have been launched by companies ranging from accounting-software giant Intuit Inc. to independent sales organization Merchant Warehouse, in addition to Charge Anywhere. TSYS is clearly banking on the new product having a significant impact. On the assumption that 62% of consumer payments are currently electronic, with the balance on checks and cash, Philbin estimates the new product could push that electronic portion to 65% “in the near term,” and to more than 70% within three to five years.