Mobile Payment Providers
By Angela Altass
Consumers are increasingly paying for purchases through portable electronic devices.
“Many Canadian convenience stores have grown accustomed to keypad card machines to close their sales,” notes Cole Baldwin, business expert and sales leader at Square Canada. “It’s a familiar solution but it’s wildly outdated.”
As convenience store customers are looking to use their tablets or smartphones to make mobile payments with increasing frequency, Convenience & Carwash Canada offers this brief look at some of the mobile payment provider options available to retailers.
Square Terminal offers convenience stores a modern, elegant device with point-of-sale (POS) software that seamlessly handles all terminal updates through overnight, automatic and free software updates.
Square for Retail was introduced to Canada last year, providing another solution for convenience stores that will provide access to a complete POS system. “This is a great solution for convenience stores to manage their inventory with less stress and better reach their customers wherever they are,” says Baldwin. “Due to the integration with Square Online, this solution could help convenience stores with things like in-store pick-up and barcode scanning.”
PayPal QR Code Touch-Free Payments was launched in Canada in 2020, allowing small businesses to accept touch-free mobile payments from their customers using the PayPal app. Those who are selling can print a QR code that customers can scan and enter the amount they’re paying and send money immediately. “Throughout the pandemic, we’ve seen a surge in demand for digital payments to include safe and affordable solutions for in-person payments,” says John Kunze, senior vice president of customer experience, PayPal. “We rolled out QR codes for buyers and sellers so they can shop and sell safely. They don’t need any new devices or expensive point-of-sale terminals. All they need is a PayPal account and their smartphone.”
Google Wallet is an application that holds digital versions of the physical items you carry around in your actual wallet or purse. It will be available soon in over 40 countries for Android and Wear OS devices. You can pay with the cards stored in Google Wallet in stores where Google Pay is accepted. Your financial institution verifies your identity before your card can be added to your phone.
Apple Wallet is an iPhone and Apple Watch app that securely and conveniently organizes your credit and debit cards, rewards cards, and more. Apple Pay is the way to pay and make secure purchases in stores, apps, and on the web. Apple Wallet is the place where you store your credit or debit cards so you can use them with Apple Pay.
Mastercard contactless-enabled credit cards allow consumers to tap-and-go in store, eliminating the need to handle cash and accelerating the checkout process. To keep tap and go payments safe and secure, encryption unique to every purchase protects consumer transaction data and the card or device, including smartphones and smartwatches, stays in hand, reducing the risk of loss or counterfeiting. Card details are never shared, and Mastercard’s Zero Liability coverage protects consumers. Safeguards are now in place to bill only once if a consumer accidentally taps twice.
Mastercard Shop Anywhere allows retailers to create straightforward shopper experiences that can be modified based on their needs. It improves the speed of the shopper journey by offering consumers no wait, no checkout lines, and secure payments. Shop Anywhere can be deployed across various physical spaces, including convenience stores.
QuickBooks Payment App accepts credit card payments both in store and online. The app securely stores customer credit card information for recurring billing and automatically processes payments on a due date. You can send customers a pay now link for one-time sales from QuickBooks Online.
