Mobile phone credit card transactions - anyone tried this?

Apparently it is now possible to swipe credit cards from your mobile phone. There are several service providers out there, one of which is through PayPal. The idea is intriguing but I just watched this video explaining how it works and was a little horrified:

How PayPal mobile credit swiper works

To sign for the transaction people write their name on your touchscreen. The same touchscreen that you later press against your face. Even with vigilant sanitizing I'm not too keen on this. It just seems like a sketchy idea.

I'm wondering if anyone has used this app for their business? And alternatively has anyone paid for goods and services this way? There are other providers as well such as Square, Intuit and Payanywhere (iPhone only).

Call me behind the times but I have never heard of this before. In the little research I've done I note that the phone I have (HTC Inspire) is not compatible with these readers (and I just got it last December - drives me nuts how often a person has to upgrade. And hell no I am not getting an iPhone).

The reason I'm asking is I have a convention to go to in a few weeks and would like a way to accept credit card payments without a monthly service fee (we have "need to swipe" scenarios rarely - everything else is done online).

Any advice about any of the services, or reasonable ways to swipe on-site occasionally without a monthly service fee, would be appreciated. We're filmmakers and have sporadic transactions at best. In this plastic age going cash only at the point of sale is bad business.

Or if you just want to discuss this whole idea of using your phone as a community payment device I'm happy to discuss that too!

Yes absolutely. I do a lot of militarily shows. I have one for my phone can't afford now a days to lose a sale, I also do old gun restoration and 90% of my customers pay me in credit cards.

I however do not use paypal as they are a very ANTI everything group I use square.
Square

Square charges per swipe and usually the money is in your bank account in three days. They have no set up, or monthly maintenance fees.

However some times the pay per swipe sucks I did a $11,000 dollar sale and the charge was $1,100..

Yes, I just used it to pay for a night at a B&B. A tiny device hooks to (in this case) an iPhone. Swipe the card and a receipt is sent to your email address. I've had a small business where I had a merchant account complete with machine and all, and that was a complete hassle. This was much easier and worked flawlessly. Sorry I don't know the service that was used.

I also had another incident along the same lines. I just bought a new dishwasher that had a $50 rebate. I entered all the info online, but, of course, they wanted a copy of my receipt. One option was to take a picture of the receipt with a Smartphone and email them the picture. Moi? A Smartphone? I guess I live in the 20th century. At least they allowed me to fax the receipt as an option. The system automatocally printed an appropriate cover sheet, and off it went.

Cell phone banking is the here an now, and it is the future.

The only draw back is security

Paying all your bills online been there done that

Walking in to a car dealership and with the press of a button....Bam new car eventually I see mobile banking replace the credit cards.

reply to post by JValhalla


One of my problems is my phone doesn't have the port needed for the swiper. The Intuit service has a key-in option which I could use so I was considering that one as a possibility. But people signing their name on my phone gave me pause (should I hand out hand sanitizer first??)

Do you print a receipt for people or do they accept an email as with most online transactions? Ever had anyone resistant to the idea of a phone swipe? Like I said - behind the times girl over here. Upgrading my phone again makes me gag. But maybe I have to.

PS - good luck with your business!

reply to post by schuyler


I was looking into laptop swipers but they all come with either a fee for the reader or an obligation to use their merchant service and a monthly fee. We don't have a need for swiping on-site all that much so paying a monthly fee would be ludicrous.

Tell me honestly - the iPhone is worth it? Clearly it's the app phone, I just can't see shelling out the bucks. I've had a droid for about a year and have not been impressed. I am just very anti iPhone because I hate the hype I see every time a new version comes out (she said whilst typing on her macbook....).

reply to post by neo96


I'm a big fan of the mobile transaction movement overall if for no other reason than I would love to see the end of the paper receipt. Paper receipts are the bane of my existence. I have enough to wallpaper my house and yet I can never find the exact receipt I want when I need it.

I just don't know about letting other people spend money on MY phone. Grubby hands and such and then I use this phone as an actual phone later. And no I'm not a germaphobe, just trying to be sensible.

reply to post by otherpotato


Receipts are sooo analog it is the digital age!!!

E-statements, E-receipts!

reply to post by neo96


I didn't get the memo!!!

So am I to understand that if I have this mobile swiper I can pay for my own transactions at a vendor? (Say it IS so).

reply to post by otherpotato


It says acceptances of customers checks and credit cards whichs in my opinion means being a vendor not sure if that works for private person to person transfers.

To be honest.

reply to post by neo96


Schuyler posted that he paid for a bed and breakfast this way, which is why I asked.

reply to post by schuyler


Can you clear this up? Were you able to pay for your OWN transaction with a vendor using your phone? You said you paid for a bed and breakfast. I'm trying to understand the technology that's available. Is this an iPhone only service?

reply to post by otherpotato

Schuyler posted that he paid for a bed and breakfast this way, which is why I asked.

It definately works as a consumer buying from a business----commercial banking.

Now if I owed you 500 bucks if I paid you personally that way is the only question I have.-private banking

Originally posted by otherpotato
reply to post by neo96

 

Schuyler posted that he paid for a bed and breakfast this way, which is why I asked.

reply to post by schuyler

 

Can you clear this up? Were you able to pay for your OWN transaction with a vendor using your phone? You said you paid for a bed and breakfast. I'm trying to understand the technology that's available. Is this an iPhone only service?

I don't have an iPhone. The merchant used his own phone to swipe my debit card. The receipt was an e-mail one. So I was just commenting as an observer. There's a small "dongle" that attached to the iPhone port that is a magnetic card reader. It would easily fit in a short pocket. The transaction was faster than at a retail store. The merchant told me the dongle-thing was free, but he pays a transaction fee. If it's 10%, as someone above reported, that's WAY too much. Debit fees are usually much less. When I was in retail we paid 3% for cc transactions, though some banks were charging 6% at the time. Debit cards are less, though there is a per-transaction fee that is not percentage based. I don't know if it is an iPhone-only device, though I suspect so because the dongle fit an Apple port, which is proprietary, is it not? Anyway, first time I encountered one.