VeriFone Announces iPhone Secure Payments Solution

VeriFone Holdings, Inc., (NYSE: PAY) today announced PAYware Mobile, a complete payment solution for the Apple iPhone that provides small businesses with simple and secure card processing capabilities on the popular smartphone platform. VeriFone's payment solution for the iPhone (www.paywaremobile.com) puts mainstream payment processing capabilities in the hands of small business merchants who need a mobile card acceptance solution for enterprises such as home repair, small cafes, door-to-door sales, or virtually any other type of business. The hardware and software solution will begin shipping January 15 and is available free to those who sign up for a PAYware Mobile secure gateway service agreement. PAYware Mobile includes a PA-DSS approved payment app and a sleek and durable card reader that slips over the iPhone to accommodate card swipes and allow merchants to avoid high-cost "card-not-present" fees. The combined hardware and software provides the strongest card payment security available for the iPhone, including VeriFone's VeriShield Protect end-to-end encryption solution as a standard feature. "The complete PAYware Mobile solution brings secure payment capabilities to merchants who previously could not justify a dedicated payment acceptance device. We believe this represents a potential market of millions of small businesses worldwide," said VeriFone CEO Douglas G. Bergeron. "Banks and processors are concerned about the security issues of unapproved merchants using unregulated software and insecure fobs to accept card payments," Bergeron added. "PAYware Mobile leverages VeriFone's proven payment and security expertise to provide the ultimate in end-to-end protection against payment fraud and misuse on an open and unregulated platform such as the iPhone." VeriFone's iPhone payment solution will be available through existing bank acquirer and ISO channels, as well as direct from VeriFone. VeriFone also expects to eventually make PAYware Mobile available wherever mobile phone accessories are sold. Customers who sign up directly with VeriFone without existing merchant accounts will be directed to a variety of payment processor options.