Tag Archives: payfox

Square Amends Terms of Service

Square Amends Terms of Service, Bans Gun Sales [2023 Update]

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In a surprising move, Square card reader updated their terms of service agreement that every user must agree to before processing to include the ban of all sales of firearms, firearm hardware, and ammunition. Previously, the agreement had only excluded sales of guns and other weapons from online, mail order, and telephone sales outlets.

The move comes at a time when many brick and mortar gun stores and gun show vendors are doing more business than ever. This increase in volume is mainly due to recent legislation on the state and federal level to limit consumers’ access to certain types of weapons and ammunition. This fear of the unknown for the future has fueled a run on shops that are struggling to keep inventory on their shelves.

Some other notable businesses that ban weapon sales are eBay, a popular online –auction site, and PayPal. This leaves many reputable merchants with a question mark of who they can process their legitimate transactions with in a time when their business is experiencing exponential growth.  The finance arm of General Electric will also no longer provide funding to gun retailers.

Accept mobile payments

For those vendors that do business through gun shows and need a mobile processor for their smartphone or tablet, we offer a great alternative to Square. HMS has a number of mobile payment processing solutions that work with both iPhone and iPad as well as Android smartphones and tablets. For those merchants that have brick and mortar locations we can provide our lowest interchange plus pricing along with our wide variety of terminals and integrations into existing POS systems.

Gun show vendors usually require a mobile payment processing solution

At the end of the day this change to Square’s policy leaves many gun sellers without a means to accept credit cards in a time when business is booming. HMS is a great solution not only because we have many clients that are gun vendors but also because we can provide an affordable rate to maximize the profit from that next sale. I’ll finish with one last intriguing question: what is the best way to recycle all those obsolete little squares…?

Android Phone Now Takes Payments

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Host Merchant Services finally gets to make this announcement official: All mobile payment solutions the company offers now feature both iPhone and Android compatibility.

On February 28, 2012 Host Merchant Services teased through its Facebook Page that it would have big news regarding HMS and Mobile Payments in March. But technical difficulties with the full release of Payfox’s Android solution held the news back until today. In the Android Marketplace, Payfox is now listed and available for download. You can see the listing here.

The App has been on the Android Marketplace since March 21. But now the rest of the support is in place to get the app working. The final piece of the puzzle was the card reader — UniMag II, Two-Track Secure Mobile MagStripe Reader. The device is a two-track, encrypted magnetic stripe reader that works with a wide variety of mobile platforms, including Apple, HTC, LG, Motorola, and Samsung devices. Use your mobile device to read credit cards, signature debit cards, gift cards, loyalty cards, driver’s licenses, and ID badges. The UniMag reads up to 2 tracks of information with a single swipe in either direction, providing superior reading performance for your mobile device.  A merchant account is required to accept credit card transactions.

You can download the specs from the UniMag II data sheet right here. These are the Android devices supported by the reader:

  • HTC Aria
  • HTC Desire Z
  • HTC Eris
  • HTC EVO 4G
  • HTC EVO Shift 4G
  • HTC G2
  • HTC Hero
  • HTC Incredible
  • HTC MyTouch 4G
  • HTC EVO 3D
  • HTC Nexus One
  • HTC Incredible 2
  • HTC MyTouch 3G Slide
  • HTC MyTouch 4G Slide
  • HTC Thunderbolt
  • HTC Merge
  • LG Optimus T
  • LG Revolution
  • Motorola Droid 2
  • Motorola Droid X
  • Motorola Droid Pro
  • Motorola Milestone
  • Motorola FlipSide
  • Motorola Atrix
  • Motorola Droid 2
  • Motorola Droid 2 Global
  • Motorola Droid Bionic
  • Motorola Droid 3
  • Samsung Captivate
  • Samsung Droid Charge 4G
  • Samsung Epic
  • Samsung Epic 4G
  • Samsung Fascinate
  • Samsung Nexus S
  • Samsung Replenish
  • Samsung Infuse 4G
  • Samsung Continuum
  • Samsung Galaxy SII

Please Note

When you go to the Google Play Market and search for PayFox using your Android/Droid phone, the PayFox application will only display for those devices for which the application itself is compatible.

Red 5 Standing By

Our friends at Transfirst also wanted to offer some clarification about the use and licensing around the word Droid:

“Android and Droid are often used interchangeably when referring to ever-growing & increasingly popular line of smartphones that run on Google technology. The difference, for most purposes, is one of legal definitions and intellectual property. Android simply refers to the operating system and software that powers phones built by any of number manufacturers, including HTC or Motorola, and that run on any of the major carriers.

Droid, on the other hand, is a term coined and owned by LucasFilm Ltd., the licensing rights for which Verizon had to purchase in order to brand their specific line of Android Smartphones.”

In short, Androids are phones, and you can now use them to swipe payments. Droids are what Jawas scavenge. Though I’m sure the Jawas will happily accept mobile payments from all you moisture farmers out there. Ootini!

Payfox for Android Coming Soon

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On February 28, 2012 Host Merchant Services teased through its Facebook Page that it would have big news regarding HMS and Mobile Payments in March. The Official Merchant Services Blog is here to give you that big news.

Sort of.

The news is that Payfox will be usable for Android phones as well as the iPhones it has been compatible with for the past couple of years. Unfortunately that news is coming piecemeal. The announcement was slated for late March. But the project isn’t quite ready for launch. According to an ISS Bulletin from Transfirst:

“Although PayFox Android is currently not yet available … We are expecting a formal release in the next couple of weeks. “

In anticipation of the pending release, there is a new “PayFox Droid card reader” option opened up in Transfirst’s ELAPP™ software. The option is there, but the functionality isn’t ready yet. So it’s just a teaser of what’s to come. ELAPP™ is an innovative virtual application system that walks users through the merchant boarding process with intelligent rules for data entry.

Host Merchant Services E-Commerce Mobile Payments image

That’s not the only teaser, however. In the Android Marketplace, Payfox is now listed and available for download. You can see the listing here.

User tests by the staff here at The Official Merchant Services Blog show that the download works. And the app will then show up on your Android phone. But there is no reader equipment available yet and the transactions can’t yet be processed. The App has been on the Android Marketplace since March 21.

So all we’re able to confidently report right now is that the pieces for Android appear to be in place, just not fully ready. We will keep you posted with any updates or breaks in this story. Once it is ready, Host Merchant Services will be rolling out a detailed press release discussing the addition of Android to their already robust iPhone capability and how it relates to their full e-commerce service package that it offers merchants.