New AnywhereCommerce Card Reader is Smaller and Cheaper than Its Predecessor

AnywhereCommerce, a Montreal-based engineering firm, has released an updated version of its Nomad wireless chip-card reader that is smaller and less expensive than the inaugural version of the device, the company announced Tuesday.

Nomad 2.0 uses Bluetooth wireless technology to connect with mobile devices operating on Google Inc.’s Android, Apple Inc.’s iOS, and Microsoft Corp.’s Windows Phone 8 mobile operating systems, and with Windows 8.1. Bluetooth enables the data collected from the chip card by the device to communicate with the payment software on the smart phone or tablet. The device enables card-present transactions for chip cards. It also has a magnetic stripe card reader for payment cards with that technology.

Nomad 2.0 is about 40% less expensive than its predecessor, says Mitchell Cobrin, AnywhereCommerce chief executive. Its selling price is less than $100, he says.

That price point could be important, especially in nations where EMV is the primary payment type, says Rick Oglesby, senior analyst at Boston-based Aite Group LLC. “Merchants in EMV countries turn to mPOS solutions both to take advantage of mobility aspects and to avoid expensive up-front or monthly costs associated with hardware acquisition and/or rental,” Oglesby says. “While EMV solutions will probably not achieve the low cost status of magnetic stripe solutions, which are generally given away for free in the U.S., every step downward in price makes the solution more viable for smaller merchants and therefore increases the size of the potential market.”

The smaller size is an advantage, too, because it is less awkward to carry and hold, he notes.

AnywhereCommerce uses a variety of sales models to get the device into merchant hands, he says. AnywhereCommerce works with acquirers and other resellers to market its products, Cobrin says. “Our partners will determine how they want to deploy this into the market,” Cobrin says.

An example is Prosa, a merchant-services provider in Mexico. With its Prosa deal, AnywhereCommerce provides the software app that is downloaded onto a merchant’s smart phone, as well as the routing and delivery of the transaction to Prosa via an AnywhereCommerce service called aCommerce Gateway. AnywhereCommerce and Prosa announced the deal last week. In other deals, AnywhereCommerce may just sell the hardware, Cobrin says.

Prosa merchants use AnywhereCommerce’s Walker device that plugs into an audio jack to accept chip and magnetic-stripe transactions. Unlike the Nomad device, it does not have a message display screen.

Available in the first quarter, Nomad 2.0 can be rebranded with a reseller’s logo. It could be used to ease long checkout lines inside stores, or at venues like trade shows, flea markets, and for limousine and taxi services, AnywhereCommerce says.