PayStand, a payment platform, today announced the release of their mobile app in the Apple App Store, making it the first all-in-one mPOS (mobile point of sale) solution in the US to enable credit card, check and Bitcoin payments.
Merchants on the PayStand platform can now accept payments on their iPhones at brick-and-mortar locations and out in the field, giving them significantly lower transaction rates than existing POS systems.
The PayStand mobile app is a being offered as an extension of its innovative Payments-as-a-Service platform to provide flexible online checkout and payments for a flat monthly subscription instead of a complex fee structure.
“Mobile credit card payments are proliferating at the point of sale, but the fees involved have gotten too expensive for merchants,” says PayStand founder and CEO Jeremy Almond.
“Why should credit card processors take such a big cut off the top of a business’ revenues? By offering alternative payment options like check capture and Bitcoin which are zero-percent, we’re taking a big step toward our goal of eliminating merchant transaction fees.”
The PayStand mobile app enables credit card payments via a card reader that fits in the audio jack of the iPhone. Merchants can swipe customers’ Visa, Mastercard or American Express cards, or offer one of the app’s alternative payment methods. To process a check payment, the merchant simply takes a photo of the paper check, directly debiting the consumer’s bank account without any trips to the bank.
To accept Bitcoin, the app displays a unique QR code which the consumer scans to pay with the funds routed to the merchant’s Bitcoin wallet.
“With our mobile app, PayStand is bringing the same ease-of-use, flexibility and cost-savings to retailers at the point of sale as we provide for online merchants,” said Jeremy Almond, CEO, PayStand. “We’re giving merchants a single dashboard for managing all their payments, and a path to zero transaction fees.”
PayStand launched almost a year ago with a Payments-as-a-Service business model which for a flat monthly subscription gives merchants all the tools they need to accept credit cards, eChecks and Bitcoin directly on their websites and social media pages.
Unlike other payment processors, PayStand does not mark up transaction fees, but rather aims to give subscribers the lowest possible credit card rates and alternative zero-percent payment options. As the PayStand subscriber base grows, the company is negotiating progressively lower credit card rates which are automatically passed on to customers in a process they call “rate sourcing.”
The free app is currently available on the App Store and the PayStand card reader is shipped on request. Merchants must first create a PayStand account on their website to accept payments with the app.
