Groupon Payments has been integrated into the latest update to the Groupon Merchants iPhone and iPod Touch app, and can be used by Groupon business partners in the United States. It provides the ability to pay for goods and services with credit cards, and, according to Groupon, the payment takes place within one business day.
The company will provide free of charge to partners hosting special offers within Groupon a credit card reader that is mounted on a smartphone. Owners of restaurants, beauty salons, shops and other small businesses in the United States will be able to use it, who will be able to check transaction history, receive daily sales reports and analyze trends in revenue through the Groupon Payments online center.
The cost of one transaction with a credit card will be 0,15 dollars. In addition, Groupon Payments will charge a fee of 1,8% of the payment amount with Visa, MasterCard and Discover credit cards, and 3% with American Express cards.
At the same time, the new service is designed to stimulate business organizations to use other Groupon services. For companies that do not place special offers on Groupon, the commission will amount to 0,15 dollars plus 2,2% of the transaction amount from MasterCard, Visa and Discover credit cards.
Groupon CEO Andrew Mason told CNBC that the new service will allow Groupon to increase the number of discount coupons sold, attract new customers and establish long-term relationships with business partners.
The direct competitors of Groupon Payments are the services and their Square and PayPal Here devices, but pricing can provide Groupon with a definite advantage.
For example, PayPal Here commission is 2,7% of the transaction amount from all credit and debit bank cards, while processing payments from American Express cards can be more expensive.
Square charges a commission of 2,75% on each transaction. However, according to experts interviewed by Reuters, using the Square service may be more beneficial for small payments compared to Groupon Payments, while the new service charges a lower transaction fee for more than 16 dollars.
Groupon shares soared at 13,9% on the Nasdaq after announcing the launch of the service and closed at the level of 5,34 dollar. The company's securities have lost almost 80% of value since Groupon entered the stock exchange in November 2011, retailer.ru reports.
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