Intuit Inc. has officially launched a prepaid card account where even unbanked merchants and individuals may deposit their GoPayment sales, the company announced Dec. 20.
PaymentsSource broke the news about the Mountain View, Calif.-based company’s plans to launch the card on Nov. 22 (
The GoPayment application and card reader enable small-business owners and individuals, such as babysitters, to accept credit cards via smartphones or tablet devices. The basic GoPayment service has no monthly transaction fees, but swiped transactions incur a fee of 2.7% of the sale. A monthly payment option costs $12.95 a month, with a swiped-transaction rate of 1.7% of the sale, Intuit says.
The GoPayment Card has no signup or monthly maintenance fees and offers one free ATM cash withdrawal each month and one free automated clearinghouse transfer of funds from the card account to a bank account per month.
Merchants must be GoPayment users to receive the card, which arrives by mail generally within seven to 10 business days after registering. But cardholders may start having funds from GoPayment credit card transactions deposited into their GoPayment Card account generally within two to three business days, according to Intuit. They may use the card anywhere Visa is accepted.
The card expands Intuit’s strategy beyond processing credit cards on a mobile device to offering the convenience of a Visa prepaid account linked to GoPayment, Intuit noted in a Dec. 20 press release.
The card is ideal for smaller businesses or individuals lacking a business bank account and still want to conveniently separate the money they make with GoPayment from their personal finances, Intuit said.
“The GoPayment Card adds new value to those using GoPayment. In addition to helping them get paid, we’re helping them make payments,” Chris Hylen, vice president and general manager of Intuit’s Payment Solutions division, said in the release. “This is just the beginning. Intuit will roll out new, innovative features for GoPayment that help users make payments in a variety of ways.”
GoPayment applications are available for Apple Inc.’s iPhones, Google Inc. Android phones and Research in Motion Ltd. Blackberry phones, as well as the Apple iPad and the Motorola Mobility Inc.’s Xoom 3G tablet, the company says.
In November, AT&T Inc.’s nationwide sales force and call centers began offering the GoPayment app (
