GoPago Offers Merchants Free Tablets, Service
- by Mark Walsh @markfwal, August 7, 2012
Mobile payments startup GoPago is
stepping up its challenge to traditional credit card companies, as well as newer rival services like Square and PayPal Here. The company's new GoPago Live
service provides merchants with free 4G-enabled Android tablets and point-of-sale (POS) software supported by Chase Paymentech, the bank's payment processing unit.
(Chase made an undisclosed investment in GoPago earlier this year.)
The GoPago tablets come with proprietary software that automatically syncs with existing POS systems and provides business and sales analytics, along with the 4G capability courtesy of Verizon Wireless.
GoPago is also throwing in a free tablet stand, cash drawer, receipt printer and card reader, and 24/7 merchant support services. There are startup costs or monthly fees.
When it comes to transactional costs, GoPago Live is charging a fixed 2.85%, which is slightly higher than the rate charged by other mobile payment systems, like Square Register (2.75%) and PayPal Here (2.7%).
Square and PayPal are not giving out iPads or Android tablets with their payment apps or attachments for accepting credit cards. Neither is NCR Corp., the cash register and ATM machine maker that last month introduced its own cloud-based POS system for small businesses. The full hardware package for NCR Silver sells for $619, not including the iPad. And users pay $79 a month to connect a mobile device.
GoPago last year launched a consumer-facing mobile app allowing users to pay ahead and skip the lines at participating local businesses. After an order is routed into a business' system, a customer receives a notification showing the wait time before they can hold up a digital receipt to pick up their purchase.
The GoPago app for iOS and Android is now integrated with the new Live service for merchants.
The company says more than 100 local merchants signed up for the product in San Francisco, where it kicked off the national rollout of its consumer app earlier this year. The company is clearly counting on its offering of free gear and services to provide an edge over competitors, noting that traditional POS systems can cost $10,000 in hardware and software, while other tablet-based systems can cost $400 to $619.
Its announcement also includes a testimonial from the owner of San Francisco hot dog joint Lucky Dogs, saying he switched to GoPago after using a different tablet system that cost $700 without the iPad.
But why did GoPago go with Android tablets instead of the iPad, given that the Apple tablet claims more than two-thirds of the tablet market? That's a result of the partnership with Verizon, which has long supported the Google mobile platform and has an arrangement with GoPago to provide the devices to merchants. The carrier's 4G service is now available throughout much of the country, but not everywhere.
For that reason, GoPago suggests businesses check out Verizon's 4G LTE coverage map to make sure they're in one of the 330 U.S. cities where it's up and running.
This article combined with new annoucement from square is compelling. Convenience and faster and intiutive consumer experience at the checkin, is the new battleground
This is an indicator of things to come, I assume the expected shift of end user experience, with merchants investing in nextgen "POS". And, it is not limited to retailers , the impact is the reealisation that via digital mediums and mobile relevance is a strategic channel for merchant acquirers developing value add services and loyalty programs. Resulting in a dynamic layer of, not withstanding a consumer shift that will be highly discerning on the value of this medium.
It is fair to predict that adoption cycle may change rapidly between consumers and service providers of intuitive merchant offering. Hence merchant acquirers urgently require the same imperative to adopt change.
What changes are we facing between proximity, social checkin and predictable POS?
If we take a general look at todays consumer segment, it is driven by retail brand value via traditional banking loyalty and static schemes, and POS experience is derived from a over the counter experience, or a relationship with a website login. Beyond this consumer transaction experience up to now only small changes in emerging technology has impacted the buyers relatioship in a social media plain.
There arelimited tools been offered with little differentiation on the online experience or proximity purchasers hence limited to early adopter that are resposive to deals or via ticket events experiences.
However, the evolutionary path will move at warp speed straight in to mass volume value driven social media users which are consumers wich have become pre-configurable with high adaptability to digital change. The rate of change is also a result of the adoption of the smartphone. These consumers are predisposed to adopt the digital and mobile influenced ecosystem. As such, buyers will also rate value that derives on the convenience and set a social status on a merchant offering that comes to them on the digital device. The Social status of the merchant interacting with individuals and social groups becomes an intutive playing field. This is the paradyme shift of value.
One could earmark there is not turning back on traditional merchant and card payment transactions.
The result is that merchant issuers and POS experience has given birth to "mobile influence behaviour " , therefore recognising that consumers mobile fellowship has established its own indispensable daily function, joining the car keys, wallet and mobile phone"
The Only limitation that is left is testing the networks capacity and coverage.
It is fair to say, that one could predict that it is a race. To connect everyone everywhere with convenient stores at your finger tips followed by your foot steps.