You’ve heard of tablets being adapted into a POS. Flint Mobile has created an app it says will allow businesses to accept credit card payments outside the typical retail setting without even having a card reader.
The Flint app lets you scan a credit card rather than swipe it using only your smartphone.
Using the imaging in your smartphone camera, Flint captures the numbers only on your customer’s card and then emails them a receipt for the payment.
The app also has an invoicing option. The company’s website explains:
“Your customers will receive an emailed invoice containing your business information, the invoiced amount and a link they can click on to submit payment on mobile devices or desktop. Flint will also automatically send a reminder email to your customer when the invoice is over due so you don’t have to.”
The Flint app also offers a way to manage a simple customer loyalty program and to encourage referrals through social media.
For example, you can include loyalty offers when taking a payments or on electronic receipts sent to customers. There is also a place on receipts that allows customers to post recommendations about your business on Facebook.
You can also manage transactions from the mobile app including issuing refunds where necessary.
The video below gives a brief overview of the app in operation:
While technically, other tablet and card reader options would certainly work in some mobile settings, Flint Mobile seems like a very simple option.
For small businesses that do events or for retailers that might regularly travel to craft shows or similar venues, the Flint app appears to be a very all in-one-solution.
The app is free from the Apple Store or Google Play and you’ll also need to fill out an online registration form to get started. The app charges 1.95 percent transaction fee for debit cards and 2.95 percent for credit cards.
So far, Flint accepts only U.S. based VISA and MasterCard which the company insists accounts for 90 percent of U.S. transactions. But the company says it will be adding other card networks eventually.
Image: Flint
Seems like it would be ripe for fraud. I’d be interested to know how they’re planning to combat people photo shopping cards and scanning them.
Aira Bongco
Same concern here. The first thing that came to my mind was security. If it can capture your own credit card, it can capture other people’s credit cards just as well.
It’s clever that they’ve developed an app that scans rather than swipes, but my concern too is security. Just makes it easier for fraud to occur. I don’t think the convenience of the app is worth the risk, in my opinion.
It cracks me up that you people are concerned about fraud. I’m sure every one of you has gone out to eat or grab a drink in the last week. When you went to pay the bill you handed your card to the waiter and they disappeared for 5-10 minutes. While they were in the back scanning your card they could have taken ten pictures of it and sent that along with the CVV code to every hacker in Eastern Europe but no one thinks about fraud then do they….
Tyler, I’m not saying what you’ve mentioned doesn’t happen. It does. But it doesn’t mean this app won’t present opportunists with a chance to commit fraud either. Talking about one thing doesn’t mean denial of other things that happen in other ways, including the method you’ve mentioned.