Cardease: CreditCall releases POS app

Cardease app

Following the trend of turning smartphones into POS terminals, CreditCall, the UK-based card payment company, has announced it is to launch a chip & PIN payment app that will enable users to turn their phones into terminals for point of sale transactions or on-the-go debit.

Due to be made available in the autumn on Blackberry devices, the CardEase Mobile app will require the use of a separate Bluetooth-linked PIN Pad that can be paired to the smartphone. Transaction data is then encrypted and sent over the wireless network for authorisation.

Confirmation and transaction receipts can then be sent via email, SMS or printed on paper should the device be attached to a printer.

Despite the fact that the EMV-accredited app can be used as a standalone application by small businesses or as a queue-busting device at larger retailers, CreditCall says it is principally aimed at third-party developers who can integrate with other smartphone apps such as retail order-taking or field service.

Growth in smartphone/pos terminals

CreditCall is not the only firm to recognise the potential for m-payments as smartphones become more and more part of peoples' lives. In the US, AT&T has teamed with wireless payment specialist Apriva to launch applications that turn smartphones into point-of-sale devices for accepting card transactions.

The mobile payments industry has been growing for a while now, with the market expected to be worth over $70 billion by the end of the year, but with AT&T getting in on the action, expect the sector to increase exponentially.

PayPal's Express Checkout has also introduced a mobile version of the service in order to make online purchases quick and easy for customers.

Express Checkout is known as PayPal's 'premier checkout solution' and is also used on eBay to streamline the checkout process for buyers and keep them on the merchant's site after making a purchase. With mobile payments becoming more and more popular, merchants have wanted to take advantage of the technology but admitted "getting in the game has proved difficult".

Mobile payments are expected to reach $200 billion by 2012.

Relevant articles:

Smartphones to become POS terminals | Mobile Express Checkout launched | Banks face mobile virus threat

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