AT&T and Intuit square up to... Square (video)
Better watch your back, Jack. Smartphone-payment player Intuit has formed an unholy alliance with AT&T to produce Intuit GoPayment for AT&T (these guys love the sound of their own names) in the hope of muscling in on Square's burgeoning smartphone mobile payments game. Time and money-poor small business people just need to insert the reader into the headphone socket of their phone (or tablet) and fire up the app. The partnership is offering faster deposits, no monthly service charge (mind that 2.7 percent commission per use, though) and the backing of a massive telecoms corporation. The service also forwards email receipts to customers and integrates with Quickbooks to save a further job when it's the end of quarter. The partnership thinks that mobile transactions will be in the trillions and, understandably, want in on that action. After the break you can watch an informative video and read all the gory details in the joint press release.
Intuit GoPayment for AT&T Now Available via AT&T's Nationwide Sales Force and Call Centers; Make Sales Easily and Quickly with Automatic Signup and Pre-approval for AT&T Customers
Mountain View , California, Dallas, Texas, November 07, 2011
Intuit Inc. (Nasdaq: INTU) and AT&T (NYSE:T) are making it easier and quicker for small businesses to grow their business by accepting credit and debit card payments virtually anywhere, anytime.
The two companies have collaborated to offer Intuit GoPayment for AT&T, an easy-to-use mobile application and credit card reader that helps small businesses of all sizes process credit or debit card payments using their smartphone or tablet. Intuit GoPayment for AT&T comes with Automatic signup and pre-approval for the majority of AT&T customers. It is available via AT&T's nationwide small business sales force and call centers.
The worldwide mobile payments market is rapidly growing. According to the Yankee Group's 2011 Mobile Money Forecast, the value of mobile transactions worldwide will grow from $241 billion in 2011 to more than $1 trillion by 2015, a compound annual growth rate of 56 percent.
Intuit GoPayment for AT&T helps small businesses grow their business, increase sales and attract new customers. The mobile payment app and credit card reader is especially suited for mobile retailers and mobile service providers, such as photographers, hair stylists, locksmiths, and landscapers. It offers numerous potential benefits, including the ability to:
Make and save money – Increase cash flow by getting paid as soon as a job is done and giving customers more payment options. The GoPayment application is free along with one free credit card reader. The basic service offers pay-as-you-go pricing with no monthly fee. There are no set-up fees, long-term contracts or transaction fees.
Save time and improve cash flow – It can take 30 days or more for small businesses to receive payment for goods and services using standard invoicing. With Intuit GoPayment for AT&T, businesses can process payments on the spot and see the money in their account within a few business days.
Use existing mobile devices – No need to purchase additional hardware; use the smart phone or tablet you already own and carry. Supports the most popular 3G and 4G smartphone platforms.
Key Features and Services
Ring up sales quickly by creating and selling from a list of frequently sold items. Swipe credit cards using the card reader hardware instead of entering data manually.
Process payments within seconds and have funds deposited into a user's bank account within a few days, eliminating the hassles of invoicing or waiting in bank lines to deposit cash or checks.
Feel assured that your customer's sensitive credit card information is protected. Card data is never stored on the mobile device and is encrypted during processing – once via the credit card reader and a second time via the GoPayment app.
Keep accounting records up-to-date by syncing transactions directly with QuickBooks®, the best-selling small business financial software in the U.S. used by 4 million users.
Enable employees to ring up sales by adding up to 50 users to one GoPayment account.
Get 24/7 unified support from AT&T and Intuit, including general customer service, and help with devices, network and mobile payment processing.
Look professional by sending text or e-mail receipts with a map of where the transaction took place.
Pricing and Availability
The basic GoPayment service has no monthly, transaction or cancellation fees, and offers a competitive 2.7 percent discount rate for swiped transactions.
For small businesses with higher volume processing needs, a paid version of GoPayment also is available for $12.95 a month and provides a lower discount rate of 1.7 percent for swiped transactions.
o This plan is recommended for businesses that process more than $1,000 a month and want multiple employees to process payments using one GoPayment account.
o The monthly fee for the paid version of GoPayment will be conveniently rolled into customers' existing monthly AT&T bill.
Qualifying customers can purchase Intuit GoPayment for AT&T as part of AT&T's popular All for Less packages, which feature wireless, wired and broadband services, Website hosting, tech support and data backup.
Quotes
"Intuit GoPayment for AT&T comes with automatic pre-approval for AT&T customers, helping small businesses speed up the on-boarding process and enabling them to make credit and debit card transactions within minutes," said Ebrahim Keshavarz, AT&T vice president of Small Business Product Management. "This offer is just the first step in AT&T and Intuit working together to benefit small businesses by helping them broaden their payment capabilities, save money and, ultimately, better serve their customers."
"GoPayment makes it easier for small businesses to grow their business no matter where they are," said Chris Hylen, vice president and general manager of Intuit's Payment Solutions division. "By teaming up with AT&T, we're getting GoPayment into the hands of even more small businesses. Now they too can easily and affordably process credit cards and get paid on the spot, which in this tough economy means increased cash flow and more repeat business."
General Information
For more information, please visit Intuit GoPayment for AT&T . To watch a video highlighting the solution, please visit the AT&T Business YouTube channel.
Small businesses that want more information about all AT&T products and services can visit AT&T Small Business. For free business resources such as webinars, articles, case studies and best practices, they can visit AT&T Small Business InSite.
Additionally, real-time information and updates can be found on the AT&T Small Business Facebook page and AT&T Small Business Twitter channel.
More information on Intuit's small business products and service is available at Intuit.com. Other Intuit resources for small businesses include Intuit on Facebook, Intuit on Twitter and Intuit Community.
*AT&T products and services are provided or offered by subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc. under the AT&T brand and not by AT&T Inc.
