Intuit Inc. (Nasdaq: INTU) has announced the general availability of Intuit Pay, giving anyone who sells products or services in the U.K. an easy and low cost way to accept credit and debit card payments anywhere.

A first of its kind all-in-one solution, Intuit Pay enables businesses to take secure payments face-to-face and over the phone. It includes a free app – for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch – and chip & PIN card reader, which is available for free for a limited time.

With a revolutionary application process, users of Intuit Pay can get activated ready to take their first online payment within minutes of applying (subject to status and credit check) and there are no monthly fees or commitment – just a low fee of 2.75 per cent per transaction. The card reader is delivered within a few days.

Sarah McLeod, who runs a fashion retail brand Nanukk, is one of hundreds business owners that have been trialing the service. “Intuit Pay is an easy way to take card payments. It’s what customers want and helps me secure more sales and higher-value sales,” she said.

Intuit Pay builds on Intuit’s 10 years of leadership in small business payments. In the U.S., the company’s desktop, Web and mobile payment offerings currently process more than $37 billion annually.

Intuit Pay offers Intuit’s trademark simplicity and ease-of-use and provides some unique advantages over other payment solutions:

• Accept cards anywhere – on the go and over the phone: Use the card reader with iPhone, iPad or iPod touch for mobile payments or enter card details online using the secure Intuit Pay site to take payments from home or office over the phone.
• Safe and secure – protected by chip & PIN: Ensures faster payment, helps safeguard customer confidence and reduces fraud and disputed transactions. Intuit Pay is fully validated by Visa and MasterCard for chip and PIN card payments.
• Connects with QuickBooks – makes accounting easy:  Connects to QuickBooks Online beginning next month, letting subscribers accept card payments and update their accounting records in one step. Intuit Pay is part of Intuit’s rich ecosystem and QuickBooks Online is the world’s No.1 cloud accounting software.

“Intuit Pay solves an important problem for the millions of small businesses and trades people in the U.K. who don’t currently accept card payments and so miss out on sales or prompt payment as a result,” said Terry Hicks, vice president of products for Intuit’s global business division. “Current solutions are either too expensive, demand long-term contracts or simply don’t work where businesses need them. Intuit Pay changes the game, providing an easy, low-cost way for anyone to accept card payments anywhere.”

Meets Demands of Small Businesses

A survey for Intuit of 1,000 small businesses in the U.K. found that just 19 per cent of micro-businesses – firms with less than 10 employees – currently accept card payments. Almost half, a total of 47 per cent, said they would accept cards if there was a more affordable way of doing so using their smart phone or tablet. There are an estimated 4.6 million micro businesses in the U.K. according the Department for Business Innovation & Skills.

Payments Made Easy

Intuit Pay provides the ease-of-use and confidence small business owners need to easily process transactions:

• Instant approval: Intuit Pay is supported by Global Payments to enable activation within minutes of applying and real-time merchant set-up.

Chris Davies, Managing Director, Global Payments, said: “Global Payments is committed to offering merchants of all sizes access to new payments technologies to help them grow their business. Our partnership with Intuit Pay has helped us to further this ambition and bring card payments to a wide audience of micro businesses and their customers at an affordable price.”

• Safe and secure: Intuit Pay meets Visa’s security standards and is also EMV approved and fully compliant with PCI – DSS regulations.

Availability and Pricing    

The Intuit Pay App is available for free from the App Store on iPhone, iPad and iPod touch or at http://www.Appstore.com/intuitpay.
Suggested Links:

Visit the following links for more information:

• Website: http://www.intuit.co.uk/mobile-payment-solutions/index.jsp
• YouTube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDmWyhGAsAA
• Intuit UK on Twitter, Facebook, Intuit Blog