Mobile payments growing among Canadian small businesses

These systems are increasing in popularity as smaller companies seek alternatives to traditional platforms.

Mobile payment technology is starting to take off among small businesses in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, as they seek to discover alternatives to the traditional online platforms and point of sale systems.

Now that there are a growing number of players in the marketplace, businesses have choice.

Among the various options that are starting to make some headway in the Canadian mobile payments marketplace among small business is Square. This American startup provides merchants with the ability to use their smartphones and tablets to process payments through credit and debit cards.

Among tablet using small businesses, it is the iPad app that is drawing the most mobile payments popularity.

Small businesses enjoy the freedom and advantages that are provided by some mobile payments systems. This is because they come with the pros of having a traditional point of sale system – which will usually cost around $2,000 to purchase, or that comes with a monthly rental fee, but at a significantly lower cost. These small business owners feel that an iPad, which can be obtained for approximately $500 can provide all of the same benefits.

Jack Dorsey, the founder of Twitter, is also behind the Square mobile payments company. It is based in San Francisco and though it is already gaining in popularity in the United States, it has only taken its first steps into the Canadian arena as of the end of 2012.

That said, there are also Canadian players with which it needs to compete, such as PayFirma, which is based in Vancouver, British Columbia. That company targets small businesses and freelancers who are interested in using mobile payments as an alternative to the other available services. These services are also popping up for use among bands, artists, and farmers market vendors.

According to the owner of a small company called UberWench Fine Art Fibre, Elinor Crosby, who is located in Halifax, Nova Scotia, using mobile payments has boosted her opportunities. She stated that “I’ve made sales … that I wouldn’t have made otherwise.”