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Amazon undercuts Square and PayPal with its own mobile card reader
Square's grand plan to democratize credit card payments has inspired a clutch of imitators, the latest of which is Amazon. The company has just announced Amazon Local Register, a credit card reader and app combination that'll enable small businesses to take payments they wouldn't otherwise get, as long as they have a smartphone or tablet lying around. The retailer is savagely undercutting both Square and PayPal Here, offering a flat charge of 1.75 percent per payment until the start of 2016, a full percent lower than the 2.75 and 2.7 percent asked by the other two. On January 2nd, however, the fee rises to 2.5 percent, a smaller yet still significant cut compared to Amazon's rivals in the space. The gear's available for Android, iOS and the company's own Fire devices, priced at $10, and there's even a business bundle for $380 that'll include a Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 -- which we figure is a whole lot cheaper than trying to install a cash register in your taco truck.
PayPal Here goes on sale at AT&T stores: like a one-stop shop for account hiccups
PayPal Here, despite all its focus on in-store transactions, hasn't really been available to buy in a US store -- that's been the domain of the seemingly ubiquitous Square reader. eBay's payment wing has at last established that retail beachhead through a deal with AT&T. About 1,800 of the carrier's stores are now carrying PayPal Here readers, and they'll keep the service's big rival from hogging the spotlight at a time when most aren't even aware that there's any competition. If you're still cynical, you can look at the AT&T move as a matter of convenience: at least this way, all your account headaches will come from one place.
PayPal and Softbank announce new joint venture in Japan, mobile app
PayPal has joined forces with Softbank to bring its mobile payment system / digital wallet to Japan. PayPal Here uses an encrypted card reader -- like its BFF Square, and more recently, VeriFone -- to minimize users' cash dependency. There's also a redesigned app that makes it easier for customers to locate participating merchants while they're out and about. The $25 million joint venture targets small businesses, especially those using iPhones (though it also works just fine on Android), and will be made available to the Japanese masses over the next several weeks. We're sure the setup will be used exclusively by the forces of good to stimulate the local economy.
VeriFone outs Sail mobile payment system, gives Square the evil eye
VeriFone has decided that calling out claimed security holes and focusing on enterprise-level payment options aren't enough to take on Square. Sail goes more directly for Square's jugular, using its own plug-in dongle to handle major credit card payments in your local coffee shop or a mid-sized outlet. The VeriFone party trick comes through having multiple payment options, where shopkeeps can either choose to pay a flat 2.7 percent cut of every sale, or shell out a $10 monthly fee to lower the transactional take to 1.95 percent. Programming interfaces will let you hook in deals from social networks, too. And as you might expect, the company is still keen to tie Sail to its traditional payment systems, opening the door to NFC readers as well as other payment hardware that isn't quite as mobile. Stores with iPhones will be the only ones using the free Sail mobile apps and readers at first, but Android- and iPad-toting entrepreneurs will have their alternative to Square or PayPal Here as soon as the end of May.
PayPal unveils Square competitor 'PayPal Here'
Small businesses that are using PayPal to process credit cards but considering the Square service are in luck -- PayPal today unveiled a competitor to Square called "PayPal Here". Like Square, the new service comes with a free card reader dongle. In this case, the card reader has been designed with a stabilizing "wing" that makes it much easier to swipe a credit card. PayPal notes that the reader comes with a free companion PayPal Here app that isn't in the App Store as of the time of publication. The iPhone or iPad that is used with the card reader needn't be online -- apparently the card reader can be used offline as well. The merchant simply needs to tap in an amount, then hand the phone or iPad to the customer. The buyer can add a tip, sign, and request a method of getting a receipt. If the merchant doesn't have the card reader with him/her, the app has a Scan Card feature that uses the device's camera to read the credit card number -- the merchant still needs to enter the customer's CVV and postal code. Scan Card also works with debit cards and checks, and the app can also be used to track cash transactions. Both the card reader and app offer encryption, and PayPal will charge merchants a flat 2.7 percent fee for the service. If you apply the income towards your PayPal debit card, which offers a 1 percent rebate on all purchases, your effective rate is 1.7 percent. That's a rate that Square can't currently beat. PayPal is also touting immediate access to funds, while Square has a built-in one-day delay. The service is being rolled out to a few thousand PayPal merchants in the U.S., Hong Kong, and Australia today, and should be available for everyone else in a few weeks. You can sign up to be notified of the availability of the app and readers on the PayPal website.
PayPal Here mobile card reader: it's like Square, but with way more frozen accounts
Hear that? That's the sound of coins hitting the mental floor at a breakneck pace, and if PayPal's meteoric success is any indication of how it'll do in mobile... well, stockholders should be pleased. Nearly three years after first hearing of Jack Dorsey's Square (formerly 'Squirrel') project, the most hated division of eBay is coming out with a rival. President and CEO of eBay John Donahoe took the wraps off of the device at Ghirardelli Square in San Francisco today, with an aim to bring PayPal to "merchants in the offline world." The plastic triangle module plays a familiar role: pop it into an iPhone, load up an app and swipe until you just can't sell anything else. We're hearing that PayPal will charge merchants 2.7 percent (just 0.05 percent less than Square), but further details -- and even the thing's name -- are still developing.As much as we jest about PayPal's polarizing nature, we've been victim to one too many unjustified account freezes to become overly joyous here, but we won't kvetch about a little competition. Here's hoping we see rates and fees on the decline thanks to another major player stepping up to bat, but something tells us those kinds of dreams are dreamt only by fools. That aside, the fact that famed designer Yves Behar (profiled here on The Engadget Show) and Fuseproject were tapped to engineer it gets a major thumbs-up from us.Update: Looks like it'll go by the name Here. PayPal Here. Moreover, the hardware and app will be gratis, and shipments will begin to go out in the US, Canada, Hong Kong, and Australia today. Everyone else will need to sit tight for a few weeks, and we're still digging for information on compatibility beyond the iPhone.Update 2: Look like Android support will be here at launch, but iOS devices will need to run iOS 4.0 or higher.
