Buck Touts ‘Dongle-Free’ Mobile Invoicing Service (Feb. 19, 2013)
Feb. 19, 2013
Buck Corp. is introducing a new mobile invoice service for small businesses that it touts as “dongle-free,” enabling businesses to send electronic invoices to any mobile phone and receive credit card payment without swiping a card. Buck Mobile Invoice is free to businesses using it, but participants must already have a merchant account with one of several payment gateways, according to the Seattle-based company. The service is geared to speed up the process of sending bills, and eliminates the need “to physically swipe a card to receive payment,” said Buck CEO Andy Kleitsch. “We’re like Square, without the dongle,” he added. Buck is promoting its service online and through viral marketing.
Participating businesses that want to send a bill to a customer may use any computer or mobile device to create an invoice from Buck’s mobile site, including the amount owed, a description of the transaction and the customer’s mobile phone number. Each new invoice creates a text message notifying the customer of the bill. Customers must visit Buck’s site to pay; the service is available for businesses using Authorize.net, Stripe, First Data, Chase Paymentech, CyberSource, WorldPay, Paperless, Payleap, Comm Idea and PayPal, Buck said. Buck, a 10-employee startup formerly called Billing Revolution, also offers a mobile payments service specifically designed for coffee shops and provides credit card billing services for online gaming companies.
