Intuit’s Mobile Efforts Look to Make Big Splash on The Small Screen

Intuit’s dominance in the realm of mobile solutions for business owners is growing at a rapid pace.

                                  

Late last week, the venerable name in business and financial management solutions, raised the curtain on its next generation of mobile products that will expand its portfolio of connected services.

According to Intuit, these range from innovations that will make it easier for the smallest of businesses to accept credit card payments, to others that will help doctors and patients communicate quickly, to a banking application that allows consumers to deposit a check from anywhere with just their mobile phone.

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Square Rolls Out Sophisticated Mobile Payment Solution for iPhone

Square has unveiled a new app for iPhone users called Card Case. Acting like a digital wallet, the new app enables users to complete purchases at participating stores without even having to retrieve the device from their purse, pocket, or coat.

“This is truly the simplest way to pay,” said Megan Quinn, director of products for Square.

The app opens a tab with the merchant for payments to be made automatically when the user is in close proximity to a store that uses this particular service.

                                      

This is made possible by Apple’s new iOS 5, which delivers a state of the art location-based mobile technology.

When a user is ready to make a purchase, the customer simply states their name. The store employee at the point of sale or cash register can then verify the user’s face on their side of the app. Subsequently, the charges are issued and the money is automatically withdrawn from the debit card or credit card associated with that individual user’s app.

According to the folks at Square, the service is available at some 20,000 outlets nationwide that have already signed up to accept Card Case payments.

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eBay Sees $5 Billion in Mobile Sales in 2011 via Mobile Apps, Smartphones

It is shaping up to be a banner year in mobile sales for eBay. This week, the online marketplace’s CEO, John Donahoe, revealed that eBay will have done $5 billion in business this year via mobile phones. eBay owned PayPal isn’t far behind with $3.5 billion in mobile payments for the calendar year.

                                      

The smartphone boom and corresponding popularity of eBay’s mobile applications have made this impressive feat possible. Donahoe admits that that eBay’s applications for iOS, Android and Windows Phone have been downloaded in excess of 56 million times.

“We are seeing profound change in how consumers are behaving and will behave. We believe we are at an inflection point,” Donahoe reportedly said this week at the Open Mobile Summit. Our perspective on mobile is that it’s not incremental, it is another screen in the shopping experience. It’s a consumer that is coming back more frequently and shopping more because now it can be done at any time of the day. We know it is driving consumer engagement and customer value.”

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