Apple Pay Coming To Food Trucks And Small Retailers, Thanks To PayAnywhere

Missing from the ranks of businesses that accept Apple Pay are small retailers like food trucks and local coffee shops that may lack the capital to invest in sales terminals for accepting mobile payments.

Much like Square, PayAnywhere uses a small card reader that attaches to the audio port on your iPhone or iPad so you can process credit card transactions without needing an expensive bank merchant account. And for each and every transaction, a one-time security token is used for authentication.

PayAnywhere, which launched for iOS in January 2011, is a mobile payments solution that provides a seamless checkout experience for both merchants and their customers, offering faster funding, real-time analytics, and superior customer service.

Apple today announced the company is partnering with PayAnywhere for a new mobile NFC card reader that will be able to attach to iOS devices and support Apple Pay transactions in any retail location, in addition to traditional credit card support (via CNBC).

By comparison, mobile credit card readers plug into the headphone jack on smartphones and tablets, effectively turning the device into a cash register.

For those who do not use Apple devices, the card reader can read other cards at an affordable price of $40. To sweeten the deal, Bancard will be throwing in the first $5,000 Apple Pay transactions for free. It is unclear if the arrangement with Apple will affect PayAnywhere’s existing availability.

Apple’s goal is to have Apple Pay in 1.5 million locations in the U.S.by the end of 2015. In stores, Apple Pay works with iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus and Apple Watch.

PayAnywhere, made by North American Bancard, is aligning itself closely with Apple. The PayAnywhere offering includes mobile payments solution PayAnywhere Mobile and mobile point of sale solution PayAnywhere Storefront.