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Shopify launches new mobile credit card reader

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Shopify swipes at competitors like Square with its new card reader.

Shopify has released a new card reader to simplify how merchants accept credit or debit-card sales. The Chip & Swipe reader was designed in-house by the Canadian ecommerce platform and (as suggested by its name) accepts both chip-based and swipe transactions. It’s designed to suit brick and mortar retailers, small businesses, market stall owners and other businesses where mobility and easy access is key.

The reader accepts Mastercard, Visa, American Express and Discover and can be paired wirelessly with Android or Apple smartphones over Bluetooth. On full charge, the reader can handle 400 chip transactions or 700 swipes. New Shopify members can grab one of the readers for free, while existing customers can pick one up for $29.

Shopify initially unveiled its payments reader in April and began accepting select pre-orders in July, but it’s available to Shopify merchants from today. The new card reader is currently only available in the United States, but as Shopify has a presence in Australia, perhaps it will only be a matter of time before it's introduced here too.

If you’re keen to see how the Shopify reader works, you can check out the video below.

The Chip & Swipe reader has been labelled as big competition to the Square Reader (made by merchant services company Square) which is already popular with small and mobile businesses.

If you're interested in new business payments technology, there are some mobile services available to Aussie business owners in the mean time. For example, US fintech start-up xPressTap is preparing to launch its Tap2App app in Australia. The app transforms any NFC-enabled smartphone into a virtual card reader, allowing businesses to accept card or digital wallet contactless payments via their smartphone.

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Picture: Shopify

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