FreshBooks introduces mobile dual chip-and-swipe iOS Card Reader

Toronto cloud accounting software provider FreshBooks has released its pocket-sized $29 U.S. Card Reader, a payment processing terminal that plugs into an iPhone’s audio jack and features real-time synchronization with a vendor’s FreshBooks accounting software.
Since the October deadline for the EMV (Europay MasterCard and Visa) liability shift and chip-and-pin payment processing has passed in North America, many small and medium retailers have yet to upgrade their payment processing technology, exposing them to fraud liability and the problems inherent in clinging to obsolete technology.
“The freedom to work from anywhere, to get paid from anywhere, and to do it without security worries – that’s something the FreshBooks team is proud to deliver to our customers,” said FreshBooks co-founder and CEO Mike McDerment. “The FreshBooks Credit Card Reader is just one more way we can make it easier than ever before for freelancers and small business owners to successfully run their businesses.”
The FreshBooks Card Reader promises dual chip-and-swipe capability and adherence to current EMV security standards, as well as encryption of credit card data which isn’t stored on the device.
Beta users of the FreshBooks Card Reader were found to be more pro-active than their small and medium-sized vendor peers, adopting EMV standards in greater numbers than vendors still using standard POS solution.
Backed by a one-year warranty, the FreshBooks Card Reader users can accept Visa, MasterCard and Amex cards. The Card Reader currently is only available for iPhone and iPod Touch devices running iOS 8 or higher in conjunction with the most recent FreshBooks iOS app.
“I like the unified payment and billing with FreshBooks and that it’s a one-stop shop for professional-looking accounting,” said FreshBooks customer Matt Jeske, who runs his own cloud services and computer support business in Watertown, Minn., and who was part of the first group of early FreshBooks Credit Card Reader testers. “With more of my customers switching to chip cards, I appreciate that the new FreshBooks Card Reader lets me provide them with peace-of-mind with the added security.”
In 2013, the most recent year for which data is available, Statistics Canada says that 13% of Canadian businesses sell online, which seems very small until you also realize that only 41% of Canadian businesses even have a website.
Still, with mobile payment processing alternatives becoming more widespread, the ease with which retailers can implement mobile POS technology has never been greater.