Direct Response Forum

ShopKeep software connects merchants' iPads or PCs to a cash drawer, mobile credit card swiper and printer, letting them conduct transactions even during Internet outages. The service costs $50 per month, including inventory management and customer service.

EBay’s net income soared in the fourth quarter, in large part because of the sale of its remaining investment in Skype and continued success of PayPal.  The payments unit, which consists almost entirely of PayPal, was responsible for more than 36 percent of the company’s fourth-quarter revenue — $1.24 billion — which grew 28 percent from the same period a year ago.

he card.io mobile payments SDK is an evolution for the company. The company already had a "Scanning SDK" that it released in June 2011 (iOS) and September (Android) that would allow people to scan a credit card but not actually process the payment. The new SDK will process the payment as well, taking the friction out of the transaction by eliminating the steps between scan and processing.  There are no set up or monthly charges. card.io will take a 3.5% plus $0.30 per transaction cut and payouts go to either PayPal or a bank account.  Jumio is also working on creating the ability to take pictures of credit cards and process payments through its app and Netswipe platform. Jumio also has an SDK to institute its payment technology and has more funding with its recent $6.5 million round led by Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin. Jumio is well ahead of card.io and working on basically the same product. card.io has raised $1 million from a variety of investors.

Payment system provider VeriFone is arming its merchants and retailers with new tools to handle changes in commerce. The company, well known for its point of sale terminals, is showing off an array of new products at the National Retail Federation’s Convention and Expo in New York this week, demonstrating how it can help merchants become more mobile, more responsive and dynamic.

The growing anti-SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) support that has swept through the gaming and Internet community found a very big ally today.  Much to the chagrin of Hollywood, the Entertainment Software Association (which has been a backer of the bill from early on), and Internet domain company GoDaddy.com (which lost many accounts as a result of its support for the bill); SOPA has been shelved.