Built into the latest version of the Groupon Merchants app for the iPhone and iPod Touch, Groupon Payments provides restaurants, salons and spas, retail establishments and other local businesses with the ability to accept all credit card payments at a lower rate than other providers.

"Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations"

After a successful pilot in the San Francisco Bay Area, any merchant that runs a deal with Groupon in the United States can now accept payments at the lowest rates in today's marketplace:

Swiped transactions - MasterCard, Visa and Discover (1.8% plus $0.15 per transaction) and American Express (3% plus $0.15 per transaction)
No hidden costs or monthly fees

Merchants will also have their credit card deposits in their bank accounts overnight, which is much faster than the typical experience of waiting two to three business days offered by most credit card processors.

"Our goal is to provide merchants with the most affordable and powerful tools to run and grow their businesses," said Mihir Shah, VP Mobile and Merchant Products at Groupon. "With groundbreaking pricing and service, Groupon Payments does just that."

Groupon merchants that sign up for the service will enjoy a fast, intuitive experience that is capable of tackling their everyday credit card processing needs. Some of the Groupon Payments characteristics include:

Service — Backed by a 7-days-a-week Groupon Payments support team reachable by phone and email
Hassle-Free — Enroll within minutes
Fully-Featured — Use Groupon Merchants app to enter bill totals, add tips, apply taxes, process refunds and email customer receipts
Sturdy — Swipe credit cards via a sturdy, case-based credit card reader suitable for high transaction volume merchants or an audio jack accessory
Secure — Encrypted and secure credit card information
Analytics — View payments information seamlessly to an online Payments Center wherements Center where merchants can view a live transaction history, check daily sales reports, track deposits to their account and analyze revenue trends

In addition, merchants can use the app to scan and redeem Groupons and monitor additional spend over the value of the Groupon.

"While the cost savings are obvious, we were really impressed by the level of support provided by Groupon and the speed in which we received our payments," said Nadia McClinton, owner of Body By X in Corte Madera, Calif. "From day one we discovered we could rely on Groupon Payments to effectively, quickly and easily process transactions and deliver a better customer and employee experience. It truly saves us time, money and effort that we can invest in other aspects of our operations."

While Groupon Payments is designed for local businesses that run deals with Groupon, the service is also available as a pilot to non-Groupon merchants at the low rate of 2.2% (3% American Express) + $0.15 per transaction.

Groupon Payments and the payments-enabled Groupon Merchants app are the latest additions to Groupon's extensive suite of products and services that merchants can use to save money, streamline operations and grow their businesses. These include: Groupon Daily Deals; Groupon Now! real-time location-based offers; Groupon Rewards an easy-to-use loyalty program and Groupon Scheduler an online scheduling application for appointment-based businesses.

Local businesses interested in learning more about Groupon Payments can visit www.GrouponWorks.com/Payments. The Groupon Merchants app can be downloaded for free from the iTunes App Store.

The guarantee of lowest possible rates is only available to Groupon merchants located in the United States. Merchants must provide proof of current third-party rates for identical services. Participation is subject to the terms of the Groupon Payments Merchant User Agreement which may modify or discontinue the guarantee and the underlying services at any time. The guarantee is void where prohibited by law.