Intuit is teaming up with AT&T to bring its GoPayment mobile payments service to small businesses and make it easy for them to process credit and debit card payments using a smartphone or tablet.

GoPayment has been in the market since 2009 and is the fastest growing mobile service within Intuit. With the new partnership with AT&T, the two companies will be working together to bring the service to the wireless carrier’s numerous business clients. 

“This solution solves key SMB needs for getting paid on the go,” said Dawn Benton, a spokeswoman for AT&T, Dallas, TX. “Businesses of all types need an easy way to accept credit or debit cards on the go easily, quickly and affordably.

“GoPayment meets this need by enabling small businesses of all sizes to easily accept credit or debit cards virtually anywhere, anytime on the mobile device they already own and carry,” she said.

“This offer is just the first step in AT&T and Intuit working together to benefit small businesses by helping them broaden their payment capabilities, save money and, ultimately, better serve their customers.”

Streamlined payments
Intuit and AT&T want to tap into the significant growth in mobile payments, which are forecasted to grow from $241 billion on 2011 to more than $1 trillion by 2012, according to Yankee Group.

The Intuit GoPayment for AT&T application and credit card reader is designed for on-the-go small businesses such as photographers, hair stylists, locksmiths and landscapers.

The solution is similar to what Square offers, with both providing a free card reader and charging per-transaction fees.

Businesses can process payments on the spot using GoPayment for AT&T and see the money in their account within a few business days. AT&T customers are automatically pre-approved for the service and there are no monthly fees.

The GoPayment for AT&T app is free along with one free credit card reader. A paid version is also available for small businesses that process a high volume of transactions.

Intuit GoPayment for AT&T works on many devices, including tablets and smartphones.

Businesses will be able to get Intuit GoPayment for AT&T through AT&T’s business-to-business sales channel and call centers.

Some of the app’s features include the ability to create a list of frequently sold items so users can ring up sales quickly and the ability to synch transactions with QuickBooks so users can keep their accounting records up to date. The app also sends a text or email receipt to customers with a map of where the transaction took place.

Card data is not store on the mobile device and is encrypted during processing.

“Our value proposition with Intuit GoPayment is to streamline, simplify and enable business owners to get paid with minimal delay,” Ms. Benton said.

Final Take
Chantal Tode is associate editor on Mobile Commerce Daily, New York