There are many hardware swipers available these days to turn your cell phone or iPad into a mobile credit card processing machine – but Card.io have developed a “visual swipe” technology that lets users take a photo of a credit card to process a payment. In June, Card.io launched and allowed developers to accept payments with a photo of the customer’s credit card. Recent updates to the technology will allow consumers to send and receive payments from a credit card photo and deposit funds directly into their checking, savings or PayPal accounts.
Between the June launch date and January 2012, Card.io has over 160 developers using the visual swipe technology app. A user enters the total amount of money they need to charge their customer, and then takes a photograph of their customer’s credit card with their cell phone camera. The Card.io app sends the encrypted card date via 128-bit SSL encryption out for processing, and the credit card image itself is not saved, nor is the data taken from the card. Payments can be held in Card.io until a payout account is specified – at which time, users can transfer their credit card payments to their bank or linked PayPal accounts.
Fees for Using Card.io
If you want to use Card.io to process credit cards, you will pay 30 cents for every transaction plus 3.5% of each transaction in fees. The transaction fees are slightly higher than the popular Square unit, which allows people to physical swipe a credit card through a tiny reader inserted into the phone or iPad, and charges 2.75% per transaction.
Benefits of Card.io
Some customers prefer Card.io credit card processing over all other forms that require physical equipment to scan a card. With Card.io, you just need your phone with you – and no other gadgets required.
