The strategic partnership allows Blueface to provide businesses with mobile, landline and payment solutions in one unified offering. In simple terms businesses and traders can attach a small, easy to use device to their smartphone, which accesses credit cards and takes immediate payment.

The Blueface branded payment device is now available to any small or medium sized business. Taxi drivers, market traders and artisans in particular will benefit from the device, as mobile payments can be easily processed right on the spot and customers paying by card will no longer have to be turned away.

The payment system is easy to use and any smartphone or tablet can quickly and easily be turned into a card terminal by attaching a portable card-reader and installing its related free app. This service works on both iOS and Android operating systems. The price to be paid can either be manually entered into the installed app or via a predefined product category. The customer confirms the transaction with their signature and can then have the receipt sent to them via SMS or email upon request.

Petter Made, Co-Founder and COO of SumUp, said of the partnership: "We are pleased to make Blueface our first telecommunication's partner in Ireland, as we believe the company's innovative approach to technology and philosophy of supporting small businesses aligns with our own. We look forward to bringing the device to a wider audience through Blueface."

Blueface CEO, Alan Foy said: "Our aim at Blueface is to help businesses cut costs and maximise efficiency by supplying cost-effective and innovative solutions for business communications. We are delighted to further add to our business offering through our partnership with SumUp and we hope that our customers will find the device to be a positive addition to our business offering."

Traditional card terminals are often associated with high investment and operating costs; however, the co-branded Blueface and SumUp device will be free to buy and there will only be a single low fee on any successful transaction. There are no additional costs.

Sensitive data is encrypted using the latest technologies and is at no time stored on the mobile device itself. SumUp is authorised as a Payment Institution by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and is Europay, MasterCard, Visa (EMV) and PCI-DSS certified, ensuring that payments are processed with the highest security standards for card payments. A 100% secure data connection is made via AES 128 and RSA 2048 bit encryption. The highly secure software system monitors all transactions and filters out suspected fraud immediately. SumUp regular conducts tests and external audits of their security systems as well.