Intuit now offering GoPayment service without fees through February, also throws in a free card reader

Perhaps just to show that it is not hip to be a Square, Intuit has rolled out a serious incentive for businesses to jump on the GoPayment bandwagon. Since we last saw the mobile payment service, the company has decided to offer customers a free card reader (while supplies last) and no monthly service fees in an effort to expand its user base. Primarily aimed at those processing low sales volume, the deal includes $0.15 per-transaction fee. That's half the $0.30 fee for high-volume users, who still get the complimentary reader for signing up, but have to pay $12.95 monthly for the privilege. The offer is exclusively available to new customers, and the gratis reader only works with some phones (far fewer than the number of phones that work with the app itself), but hey, free is free. Let's just hope Intuit's system doesn't suffer from the security problems of its rival.

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GoPayment Gives Small Businesses Free Credit Card Reader and No Monthly Service Fees

Provides More Ways to Get Paid via Mobile Devices: Supports More than 40 Mobile Phones and Range of Credit Card Readers

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Processing credit card payments on mobile phones just got easier – and cheaper – for small businesses in the new year.

"We don't have any arbitrary transaction caps that delay users from getting their money. Plus, we're always there if you need us and have people available 24/7 to answer your questions so you don't lose a sale."
Intuit Inc. (Nasdaq: INTU) will offer its GoPayment mobile payment service with a free credit card reader and no monthly service fees to business owners who sign up by mid-February.

"By offering a free card reader and no monthly service fees, we want to give more small businesses a head start in the New Year by enabling them to take mobile payments without any upfront investment," said Chris Hylen, general manager of Intuit's Payment Solutions division. "And this is just the beginning. We'll introduce new ways all year long to help more small businesses get paid quickly and inexpensively using their favorite mobile devices."

GoPayment is compatible with more than 40 popular mobile handsets and a range of credit card readers. This includes a free credit card reader from ROAM Data, which works on a variety of iPhone, Blackberry and Android devices, to make it easier for the cost-conscious new business owner to start taking mobile payments. There are also other robust, professional readers, including the new, sleek, form-fitting mophie credit card reader for the iPhone 4, for established businesses with higher processing volume. A list of supported devices is available at: www.gopayment.com.

Since GoPayment launched nearly two years ago, small businesses have processed nearly $80 million in mobile payments using the solution. And the mobile payments market is expected to grow significantly in the coming years.

"We expect the point-of-sale mobile payments market in the U.S. to grow to $55 billion by 2015, up from an estimated $1 billion in 2010," said Gwenn Bézard of Aite Group. "Intuit is among the best-positioned providers to lead that market, because of its existing presence in acquiring, its accounting and personal finance solutions, and its trusted brand."

Gets Small Businesses Paid Fast

Using GoPayment and a supported credit card reader, users can swipe and process credit cards within seconds instead of entering card data manually. Funds are then deposited into their bank account typically within two to three business days.

"GoPayment gets small business owners paid fast," added Hylen. "We don't have any arbitrary transaction caps that delay users from getting their money. Plus, we're always there if you need us and have people available 24/7 to answer your questions so you don't lose a sale."

To save more time when processing payments, GoPayment includes customer-requested features such as the ability to create and sell from a list of frequently sold items, apply sales tax and send customized receipts via text and e-mail with a map of where the transaction took place.

For the more than 4 million small businesses that use QuickBooks®, GoPayment can also sync transactions with recent versions of QuickBooks – both PC and Mac – to save time by reducing manual data entry.

The solution protects customer data throughout the payment process. Sensitive credit card data is never stored on the phone. In addition, card data is double encrypted – once via card reader and a second time via the GoPayment app.

Pricing and Availability

GoPayment offers different discount rates and pricing plans depending on a business's processing needs. Businesses that sign up for GoPayment before mid-February can get a free credit card reader while supplies last and choose one of the following pricing plans:

For lower or intermittent credit card processing volume:

No monthly service fee for businesses that sign up before mid-February; Discount rates: 2.7 percent for card swiped; 3.7 percent for both key entered and non-qualified transactions; $0.15 per transaction.
For higher credit card processing volume:

$12.95 monthly service fee; Discount rates: 1.7 percent for card swiped; 2.7 percent for key entered; and 3.7 percent for non-qualified transactions, such as corporate cards; $0.30 per transaction.
GoPayment has no long-term contracts, cancellation, gateway or set-up fees, and one account can enable up to 50 users. To receive the free offer, businesses must be a new Intuit Merchant Service customer and approved for an Intuit merchant account. Terms, conditions, pricing, features, service and support are also subject to change without notice. More information on the details of this free offer is available at www.GoPayment.com.

About Intuit Payment Solutions

Intuit is one of the largest small business payments processors in the U.S. It processes annually more than $17 billion in transactions for approximately 300,000 small businesses. Over the last 10 years, Intuit has helped small businesses get paid and improve cash flow with a complete family of end-to-end electronic payment solutions. This includes services to process credit cards, e-checks and online payments via a variety of channels including mobile devices, web and retail stores and integrated solutions such as QuickBooks.