VeriFone is taking its newly launched SAIL mobile payment product to Android smartphones after debuting on the iPhone last month. The move helps VeriFone better compete with Square, an early mobile payment leader and PayPal Here, which are both available on iPhones and Android.
VeriFone is also making it easy for customers who want more traditional point-of-sale hardware to order an NFC-equipped VX520 countertop swipe terminal with receipt printer. Users can order the hardware directly from the SAIL online portal. The terminal is available for $ 100 a month with a $ 15 monthly fee.
The hardware helps VeriFone appeal to merchants who do more transaction volume. And it also gives VeriFone an answer to Square Register, Square’s iPad app. Square has also enabled its apps to integrate with popular brand of receipt printers and a register. SAIL currently is not designed to work on tablets.
VeriFone is still playing catch up but it continues to look toward its open approach as a competitive advantage. It’s working with a number of partners to integrate third-party services such as loyalty, CRM and social tools into its platform using open APIs. Brian Hamilton, vice president of SMB Commerce at VeriFone said the company will be sharing the first of these integrations next month. VeriFone also has a SAIL mobile software development kit so developers can include SAIL services in their apps. He said that will help VeriFone in the battle for merchants who want more than what Square is currently offering.
“You’ve got to be prepared to play nicely with the existing ecosystem and that’s what we want to be,” Hamilton said. “I don’t think Square can affectively do it all themselves as they move up market.”
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