Emu eschews dongle; taps cloud for card payments by mobile

02 October 2012 | 4197 views | 2 credit card

Yet another start-up - this one called Emu - that lets merchants accept card payments through their mobile phone has launched in the UK, with the rest of Europe to follow.

Unlike iZettle, Square et al, the system does not use a dongle or app; instead retailers create an account and get a personalised, cloud-based payments page that can be used across devices - smartphone, tablet, laptop, PC.

To take payments they enter their customers' card details on the page or send them a link so they can complete the transaction. Once customers are in the system their future payments can be fast-tracked.

Emu - which adheres to PCI Data Security Standards - also has an unusual pricing plan. Rather than taking a percentage of each transaction, it is promising no charges for the first £1000 of sales and a flat fee of £4.99 a month after this.

Following UK trials over the summer, Emu is now open to firms in the country, while interested parties in the rest of Europe can begin signing up as it bids to tap a market of 20 million sellers who do not yet accept cards.

Comments: (2)

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Alexander Peschkoff - TEDIPAY - London | 02 October, 2012, 13:03

One word - security. Companies like Emu need to start thinking about the difference between "element" (s/w, cloud, etc) and "SECURE element"...

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Raymond Lee - Consult Hyperion - Reading | 02 October, 2012, 22:29

It's just an eCommerce transaction. But.. they have no fees?? So where is the revenue? If I offer a service that has no fees, no setup costs, no interchange then the chances are I will not be offering this service at this level for very long.

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