Intuit and Verizon Wireless Team Up on GoPayment for Small Biz

Intuit Inc. and Verizon Wireless today announced the offering of Intuit's GoPayment app and pocket-sized credit card reader in Verizon Wireless' 2,300 retail stores and business-to-business sales channels.

The launch basically means that Verizon has endorsed a competitor to Square, the credit-card reader that works in conjunction with Apple's iPhone.

GoPayment is targeted to small-to-mid sized business. It's used to process credit card payments on smartphones and tablets. The card reader plugs into the audio jack of supported smartphones and tablets. Credit and debit cards are swiped via the reader, or can be entered in the GoPayment app manually. The transaction is processed immediately and funds are automatically deposited into a user's bank account within a few business days. GoPayment is available for Android, BlackBerry and iOS platforms.

The app syncs with QuickBooks for both Mac and PC. Inuit will soon make automatic transaction syncing available in QuickBooks Online. GoPayment supports up to 50 users on one account.

Verizon Wireless customers can get a free card reader by activating a GoPayment account and a mail-in rebate for the $29.97 price.  Customers who purchase a smartphone for GoPayment are required to subscribe to Verizon's Wireless Nationwide Talk plan which starts at $39.99 per month. Tablet and smartphone users will need a data package which starts at $30 per month for 2GB of data.

GoPayment app is free with no monthly or transactions fees at a rate of 2.7 percent for swiped transactions. A paid version is available for $12.95/month at a rate of 1.7 percent for swiped transactions.  In addition, Intuit is offering Verizon Wireless customers two months of free service when they select GoPayment's paid monthly plan.

"Intuit's GoPayment on America's most reliable network is a mobile transaction game changer, and brings another dimension of must-have technology to the small business community," said Mike Schaefer, executive director of the Business Solutions Group for Verizon Wireless, in a statement. "Payments and transactions are often the biggest hurdle businesses face. Our value proposition is to streamline, simplify and enable business owners to get paid with minimal delay. This collaboration with Inuit is an important part of our strategy to bring the most innovative online and mobile tools to our customers."

"Rather than lose out on potential business, anyone who sells a product or service can now easily and affordably give their customers the option of paying with plastic," said Chris Hylen, general manager of Intuit's Payment Solutions division, in a statement. "GoPayment is meeting a huge need and is one of the fastest growing mobile payment solutions in the market. With Verizon Wireless, we'll help even more people discover that they too can process credit card payments on the phones and tablets they already own."

GoPayment invites an inevitable comparison to , the privately-held electronic payment service.  Introduced in 2010, Square allows users to process credit card transactions via a reader from a smartphone or tablet. Square has been praised for its elegance and simplicity, yet has received criticism for what some opine is a high fee per credit card transaction.