Over past years international tourists have marvelled at the sophisticated mobile EFTPOS systems we humble traders use at the Queen Victoria Market but recent developments overseas could be leaving us behind.
SQUARE is a credit card payment system that utilises a plug-in card reader on your mobile phone turning it into a card terminal. The card reader costs only $10 although the fee charged to the retailer is quite high – around 2.75%. SQUARE is only available in the USA. CARD.IO is a new system that involves photographing the customer’s credit card with your mobile phone to achieve transaction approval. There are many other fledgling payment systems around that are designed to make it easier for customers and retailers to transact outside the bank controlled EFTPOS system although most of them don’t appear to be available in Australia.
While the bank fees for our mobile EFTPOS system remain at a reasonable level (most traders seem to pay around 0.9% plus a monthly fee of $25) we can take some comfort in the security and convenience we give our customers. Not sure I would be happy with some unknown retailer taking a photograph of my credit card.