By Ben Carsley, Managing Editor (BC_PYMNTS)
Groupon continued its pivot from daily deals site to legitimate payments player yesterday, integrating its payments processing platform with VeriFone and Ingenico point of sale terminals.
The announcement marks a rare move away from mPOS for Groupon, which has pushed to challenge Square, PayPal Here and others wish its tablet-based Breadcrumb POS platform and standard Groupon Payments dongle for iOS and Android smartphones.
By working with two of the largest POS providers in the U.S., Groupon is making a play for merchants who have not yet migrated to mobile.
“We anticipate that most merchants will eventually migrate their payments to tablet and mobile POS systems, but for now, this option lets them use familiar hardware and still benefit from the features of our payments service to save money and better manage their businesses,” Groupon’s Director of Product, Sean Harper, said in a statement.
To entice more merchants to on-board, Groupon is offering a rate of 1.8 percent plus $0.15 per transaction for MasterCard, Visa and Discover (higher rates for AmEx) and a “low-price guarantee” to beat competitor rates on credit card transaction fees. To access Groupon’s payment service via a traditional credit card terminal, merchants can configure their existing VeriFone/Ingenico terminals, buy a VeriFone device from Groupon for $150 or rent one for $15 per month for 12 months.
By adding POS terminals to its existing mobile and tablet-based solutions, Groupon boasts that it “now caters to every type of small business.”
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