Following the likes of PayPal and Square, Groupon (GRPN) has revealed that it’s releasing its own credit card payment service called Groupon Payments. Groupon Payments will be available for the iPhone and iPod touch, and participating merchants can get free plastic dongle for swiping credit cards or pony up for a $100 smartphone case/credit card slider. According to Groupon’s website, the company will only take 1.8% of transactions processed on Discover, MasterCard and Visa cards. American Express cards will be charged a 3% transaction fee and all cards will be subject to a 15-cent charge per swipe. Groupon says its service will offer the “lowest rates available.” So are they? By comparison, PayPal’s “PayPal Here” charges 2.7% fee per transaction and Square charges 2.75% per swipe or a flat fee of $275 per year. Does the world need another mobile payment system? Groupon thinks so.
[Via USA Today]
