It may look like nothing more than a glorified chip clip, but that dongle at the bottom of this guy's iPad is actually ERPLY's new credit card reader -- the latest addition to a growing field of NFC and mobile payment devices designed for small and large businesses. Once attached to an iPad's charging port, the peripheral will send a user's encrypted credit card information to ERPLY's point-of-sale and inventory management software, allowing customers to purchase products on the store room floor and giving retailers the ability to monitor transactions and stock flows in real time. Available for $50 (with a transaction fee of 1.9 percent), the reader is also equipped to handle both NFC and traditional card payments and, after processing a purchase, will automatically send a receipt to consumers via text or e-mail. At the moment, it's only available for the iPad, though iPhone users should be able to get their own version within the next three months. Swipe past the break for more information, in the full press release.
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ERPLY Introduces Portable Credit Card Reader for Retailers to Securely Process Payments on Mobile Handheld Devices
Comprehensive POS Solution Now Includes a Low-Fee, Convenient Card Processing Technology for On-the-Go Sales & Inventory Management
New York, NY – August 23, 2011 – ERPLY, the leading provider of cloud-based mobile, laptop, and desktop POS and retail inventory management solutions, today announced the ERPLY mobile credit card reader for handheld mobile devices to deliver secure, fast and convenient payments for businesses large and small. The new credit card device connects to an iPad or iPhone and transmits a customer's encrypted credit card data to the ERPLY point-of sale software and inventory management software suite to process payments. This gives retailers the ability to view real-time data and inventory analytics through the ERPLY inventory management system.
The ERPLY credit card reader is priced at $50 with a 1.9% transaction fee that is considerably less than fees charged by competing technologies offered by Square and Verifone.
Providing Options for Consumers & Retailers
In today's retail environment, customers and retailers are faced with a confusing array of mobile payment options including Near Field Communications (NFC), digital wallets and carrier billing as well as traditional credit cards and cash. Customers prefer to pay via differing methods and savvy retailers need to be ready. The ERPLY reader is designed to meet the demands of customers and retailers today and in the future, since it is enabled for traditional credit card processing as well as the new NFC payment options just coming to market.
"With our mobile credit card reader, we are providing retailers with the full range of technology options they will need to accept and process payments and make real-time decisions that affect their business," said Kris Hiiemaa, CEO, ERPLY. "As technology changes, we are giving consumers the ability to pay for items the way they want to, whether it is with cash, credit cards or with NFC technologies in phones. The ERPLY inventory management backend provides the foundation for our comprehensive POS solution, so retailers are ready for wherever the market may take us."
Changing Landscape of POS Technologies
In its recent market study "Next Generation Point of Sale Systems and Retail Technology," ABI Research forecasts that growth in this market will continue for the foreseeable future as retailers invest in the latest technology. ABI Research anticipates retail technology spending will grow to nearly $21 billion in 2014, from $14.8 billion in 2009.
With the ERPLY reader, a retailer simply attaches the device to an iPad or iPhone's charging port and this communicates with the ERPLY POS software to process the transaction and record the sale in inventory. The credit card information is encrypted inside the device, ensuring that the transaction is safe and secure. A sales person can be assisting a customer with information about a camera, for example, use the ERPLY inventory software to check on inventory, go to the storeroom and collect a particular model, and use the same iPad with the credit card reader to process the customer's credit card right there on the store sales floor. The customer is then sent an email or text message receipt.
The ERPLY mobile credit card reader is available now for the iPad and will be available within three months for the iPhone. The ERPLY reader works exclusively with the ERPLY POS and inventory management solution.
With prices starting at only $70 per month, over 20,000 retailers, ranging from Fortune 500 corporations to SMBs, currently use ERPLY's cloud-based POS and inventory management software.
