Streamlining mobile payment options is crucial for the 21st century business to build a customer base, according to Intuit.

To address this challenge for businesses, Intuit has made its GoPayment application available to iPad users. The tool is meant to serve as an additional way for small- to mid-size entrepreneurs to drive business.

“Tablets like the iPad are incredibly popular now among individuals and businesses and we expect the number of users to continue to grow at a very fast pace,” said Andrew Freed, GoPayment product manager at Intuit Inc., Mountain View, CA.

“We wanted to create a real wow experience for all the iPad users out there by taking advantage of the bigger screen,” he said.  “With this new version of GoPayment for iPad, it’s much easier to create orders because you can view your items and sales order at the same time—just tap an item and it flies over to the order.

“Having pictures of the things you sell is also a really nice addition for iPad users who can make sure they are ringing up a sale for the right item and even show customers pictures of all the items they sell.”

SMBs on the go
The Intuit GoPayment app helps SMBs run their businesses on the go via their mobile phones.

GoPayment is designed for just about anyone who sells a product or service and wants to accept a credit card payment via a mobile device. This could mean anyone from the person who makes jewelry at home and sells it once a year at a holiday fair to an established small business owner who has 20 people out in the field fixing people’s heating and air conditioning systems.

The iPad version has some unique functionality, taking advantage of the form factor of the tablet device.

The large, high-resolution display and multi-touch interface lets customers view, navigate and process payments using drag and drop features.

Additionally, using the iPad 2’s dual camera, users can add photos of products so that they can easily find items quickly to make a sale.

Users can choose items from a product list by tapping images on the screen, which instantly places them onto an itemized order summary.

Getting the word out
“Intuit has supported small business owners for more than 20 years with a wide range of offerings and services, from QuickBooks to Payroll to Merchant Services, which GoPayment took mobile when we introduced it in 2009,” Mr. Freed said.

“Not only are we spreading the word through our millions of existing customers, but we also are leveraging a variety of other word of mouth and marketing channels,” he said.

A key strategy to reaching prospective customers has been through the use of social media channels like Twitter and Facebook, according to Mr. Freed.

Customers and users can follow the @GoPayment Twitter handle as well as the Intuit GoPayment Blog to communicate with representatives and customers to discuss ideas and solutions to further build their business.

Additionally, Intuit also uses more traditional advertising channels, including a national advertising campaign in the fall featuring GoPayment.

Here is a video of the campaign:

“GoPayment lets you get paid anywhere, anytime,” Mr. Freed said. “You don’t need to worry about missing a sale because someone doesn’t have cash or the hassle of issuing invoices and getting paid with a check.

“As long as you have your phone or iPad with you, you can get paid on the spot,” he said.