The company claims that it is the first secure mobile payment application for Android phones. Charge Anywhere also said that it is the first PCI PA-DSS validated application for the platform.

“Google is the new kid on block and carriers are jumping on to the platform,” said Dmitriy Lerman, director of marking programs and products, South Plainfield, NJ. “Google’s Android is going to be huge and we want to be on it.”

Charge Anywhere is a mobile payment services provider with services such as point-of-sale software, wireless payment gateways and closed-loop card management.

The company’s mobile payment software and payment gateway services are supported by all major card processors.

The services allow for integration with the merchant account provider.

Charge Anywhere said that merchants can boost the power of their mobile payments services by enabling back-office system integration to accounting applications such as QuickBooks.

Android to the rescue?
The Android application uses a touch screen interface.

According to Charge Anywhere, merchants will be able to quickly and securely accept credit-card and debit-card transactions at the point-of-sale or point-of-service, at anytime and anywhere.

The Android software also supports optional hardware such as a Bluetooth printer with integrated card reader.
Receipts can also be printed on the spot for consumers.

Electronic signature capture does away with the requirement for merchants to retain paper copies of signed receipts.

Mr. Lerman said that Charge Anywhere’s target customer is a merchant or small business owner, somebody who does business in the mobile environment.

With Verizon releasing Android devices, Mr. Lerman said that the time was right for Charge Anywhere to release its Android application.

Mr. Lerman said that Microsoft’s Windows Mobile and Research In Motion’s BlackBerry are losing their footing in the market, and that the iPhone is only on one carrier. Because of those reasons, Mr. Lerman said that Google’s Android is poised to rise to the top of the smartphone heap.

Recently, Charge Anywhere enabled NFC payments allowing merchants to accept contactless payment by tapping a customer’s near field communication-enabled credit or debit card against the retailer’s Nokia phone.

Charge Anywhere enabled NFC for credit and debit-card processing on its PA DSS mobile payment software, letting merchants with the company’s software to accept payment from a NFC card with their mobile phones (see story).

Mr. Lerman said that mobile payments used to be a niche segment, but that is changing thanks to new technology.
“Smartphones are more secure,” Mr. Lerman said.  “Dedicated hardware is becoming significantly less expensive and we see a market that is growing at a tremendous pace while everything else is shrinking.

“Mobile payments are just exploding,” he said. “It is one little glimmer of hope in this terrible market we’re all suffering in.”