Verizon to offer Intuit's GoPayment in retail stores, free after rebate

There's nothing worse than missing out on your favorite street meat because you've only got plastic. But even smaller vendors may soon be able to process that dollar hot dog with a credit card, as Verizon Wireless is making Intuit's GoPayment card reader available in its 2,300 retail stores. The small business-friendly machine plugs into a BlackBerry, Android or iOS device to transform the smartphone or tablet into a credit card processing machine using a free app. After a $30 mail-in rebate, the hardware is free with no monthly fees and a 2.7-percent fee per transaction. Merchants who upgrade to the premium version for $12.95 per month will only have to fork over 1.7-percent fee per swipe, bringing the net income on that dollar tube of processed meat to just over 98 cents. Plus, Intuit is throwing in two months gratis for the paid version. Check out the full PR after the break, and don't forget the ketchup and mustard.

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Intuit GoPayment App and Credit Card Reader Now Available at Verizon Wireless Stores

BASKING RIDGE, N.J. & MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Aug. 25, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Verizon Wireless and Intuit Inc. (Nasdaq: INTU) today announced a strategic alliance to give all small businesses – from the sole proprietor to a medium-sized business – the ability to process credit card payments on smartphones and tablets. The companies are now offering Intuit's GoPayment app and pocket-sized credit card reader in Verizon Wireless' 2,300 retail stores and business-to-business sales channels.

GoPayment makes it easier and more affordable for small businesses to process credit cards and for anyone who sells products or services to accept credit card payments wirelessly. The card reader simply plugs into the audio jack of a supported smartphone or tablet. Credit and debit cards can be swiped through the card reader or entered into the app manually. The transaction is processed immediately and funds are automatically deposited into a user's bank account within a few business days. GoPayment supports devices on Android™, BlackBerry® and iOS platforms for most popular 3G and 4G LTE smartphones and tablets.

"Intuit's GoPayment on America's most reliable network is a mobile transaction game changer, and brings another dimension of must-have technology to the small business community," said Mike Schaefer, executive director of the Business Solutions Group for Verizon Wireless. "Payments and transactions are often the biggest hurdle businesses face. Our value proposition is to streamline, simplify and enable business owners to get paid with minimal delay. This collaboration with Intuit is an important part of our strategy to bring the most innovative online and mobile tools to our customers."

"Rather than lose out on potential business, anyone who sells a product or service can now easily and affordably give their customers the option of paying with plastic," said Chris Hylen, general manager of Intuit's Payment Solutions division. "GoPayment is meeting a huge need and is one of the fastest growing mobile payment solutions in the market. With Verizon Wireless, we'll help even more people discover that they too can process credit card payments on the phones or tablets they already own."

To save time when processing payments, GoPayment offers the ability to create and sell from a list of frequently sold items. Depending on the types of goods and services sold, users can choose to apply sales tax, add tips and send customized receipts via text message and email with a map of where the transaction took place. To protect data, sensitive credit card information is never stored on the phone. The data is also encrypted – once via the card reader and a second time via the GoPayment app.

For the more than four million small businesses that use QuickBooks®, GoPayment can also sync transactions with recent versions of QuickBooks – PC, Mac and soon QuickBooks Online – to save time by reducing manual data entry. GoPayment also supports up to 50 users on one account, which is ideal for businesses with multiple employees who work in the field.

Pricing

Verizon Wireless customers can get the GoPayment credit card reader free with activation of a GoPayment account and a mail-in rebate for the $29.97 purchase price. The GoPayment mobile payment app is free and the basic service has no monthly, transaction or cancellation fees, and offers a competitive 2.7 percent discount rate for swiped transactions.

A paid version of GoPayment is also available for $12.95 a month and provides a low discount rate of 1.7 percent for swiped transactions. Intuit is offering Verizon Wireless customers two months of free service when they select this monthly paid plan.

Customers who purchase a smartphone for their GoPayment use will need to subscribe to a Verizon Wireless Nationwide Talk plan beginning at $39.99 for monthly access. Tablet and smartphone users require a data package starting at $30 monthly access for 2 GB of data.

For additional information, please visit www.verizonwireless.com/gopayment or gopayment.com/verizon.