"In today's economic environment, small businesses are looking for secure, easy and portable ways to confidently accept payments beyond cash, and promote their business to a broader customer base," said Tom Bell, chief executive officer, Bank of America Merchant Services. "With Mobile Pay on Demand, we are making it even easier for small business owners to accept secure payments anywhere. The product is fully integrated with existing Bank of America accounts and services, allowing deposits made into a Bank of America small business checking account to be processed as soon as the next business day."
As part of a fully integrated suite of products and services, merchants who sign up for Mobile Pay on Demand can also access BankAmeriDeals and iDeals Marketing Platform Pro. The two services are designed to connect merchants with new and existing customers through promotional offers, online coupons and deals.
"We believe we can meet the combined merchant needs of accepting payments and marketing to clients," said Bell. "Merchants want simple, holistic, integrated solutions that allow them to better serve their own customers in addition to the secure, fast processing that meets their own business needs."
Features of Mobile Pay on Demand include:
• A free mobile app and free secure card reader for smartphones and iPads developed with First Data – a global leader in electronic commerce and payment processing - enabling credit card acceptance. The card reader is specially designed to reduce transaction mis-swipes.
• Next-day access to funds through a Bank of America checking account, even when payments are accepted outside of normal business hours2.
• Encryption on every credit card transaction, so customers can be confident their information will be secure.
• Easy self-sign-up, with approval in as little as one hour, with no monthly, annual or set-up fees.
• Pricing includes 2.7 percent swiped3, 3.5 percent plus15¢ keyed4 for Visa, MasterCard and Discover. Also includes transaction processing support AMEX One Point at competitive rates5.
• Integrated redemption of card based offers through the iDeals Marketing Platform allowing merchants to reach more customers.
"Mobile Pay on Demand provides an easy-to-use, secure solution for small businesses that have a need for mobile merchant services," said Robb Hilson, Small Business executive, Bank of America. "Offering a mobile point-of-sale solution for our customers is one more way Bank of America is demonstrating its commitment to serving the needs of small businesses."
With BankAmeriDeals, merchants are able to serve offers to Bank of America online banking and mobile banking customers, who can access the offers for free. Since its launch earlier this year, BankAmeriDeals has served more than 400 million offers, and 2,800 merchants nationwide now participate in the program, including discount department stores, fast food chains and casual dining restaurants.
Also, merchants who sign up and are approved for Mobile Pay on Demand between December 3 and year-end will receive a free, one-year subscription to the iDeals Marketing Platform Pro – a $200 value6. iDeals Marketing Platform is an online marketing tool kit that helps business owners reach customers through promotional offers, coupons and events.
Bank of America's commitment to small businesses
Bank of America has a long history of serving the small business community – providing clients not only with customized product solutions but also with the personal touch of small business experts and specialists. Bank of America is in the final stages of hiring approximately 1,000 small business bankers across the country. These bankers will serve as a dedicated resource for small business owners, helping them assess their companies' deposit, credit and cash management needs. Bank of America continues to actively lend to small businesses across the U.S. Through September of this year, Bank of America extended more than $6.2 billion in new credit to small businesses – an increase of 26 percent over the same period last year. In addition, combined new and renewal small business lending totaled $14.9 billion.
1 Based on bankcard, other credit, and PIN debit sales volume and transactions. Per The Nilson Report, March 2012, Issue 990.
2 After deposit of transactions and only when you have a Bank of America business checking account. Only valid on Visa®, MasterCard® and Discover® transactions. Exceptions may apply.
3 Card-swiped rate applies to swiped Visa, MasterCard, or Discover network transactions (also sometimes referred to as card present transactions) and requires the Mobile Pay card reader. Card-swiped transactions will be listed as "Qualified" on your merchant agreement and statement.
4 Keyed rate will be charged on all manually keyed Visa, MasterCard, or Discover Network transactions that have verified addresses. Keyed transaction will be listed as "Non Qualified" on your merchant application.
5 American Express rates range from 2.30% to 3.50% + $0.00 to $0.15 and will vary based a variety of factors. Please review your merchant agreement and statement which will contain the rate you will be charged.
6 Transaction fees may apply.
About Bank of America Merchant Services
Bank of America Merchant Services, a joint venture between First Data and Bank of America, provides payment solutions by combining the technology and innovative products of First Data with the relationship strength and prominent global brand of Bank of America. Bank of America Merchant Services delivers a comprehensive suite of products and services, called Paymentum™, to merchants of all sizes. Paymentum includes over 100 products including traditional payments like terminals and point-of-sale solutions, gift card and loyalty programs but also provides innovative mobile and ecommerce solutions, security options and customer service. In fact, Bank of America Merchant Services is the number one-rated electronic payments processor in the industry with more than 300,000 active merchants processing more than 13.5 billion transactions annually. For more information, visit http://www.bankofamerica.com/merchant [5].
Bank of America
Bank of America is one of the world's largest financial institutions, serving individual consumers, small- and middle-market businesses and large corporations with a full range of banking, investing, asset management and other financial and risk management products and services. The company provides unmatched convenience in the United States, serving approximately 55 million consumer and small business relationships with approximately 5,500 banking centers and approximately 16,300 ATMs and award-winning online banking with 30 million active online banking users. Bank of America is among the world's leading wealth management companies and is a global leader in corporate and investment banking and trading across a broad range of asset classes, serving corporations, governments, institutions and individuals around the world. Bank of America offers industry-leading support to more than 3 million small business owners through a suite of innovative, easy-to-use online products and services. The company serves clients through operations in more than 40 countries. Bank of America Corporation stock (NYSE: BAC) is a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average and is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
For more Bank of America news, visit the Bank of America newsroom [6].
