App launches allowing payment by phone

The London-based start-up Powa Technologies will today launch what it claims is a unique mobile app that allows people to accept credit and debit card payments on their phone.

Dan Wagner, the serial entrepreneur who chairs Powa, said the service, called mPowa, means a user can receive payments on the go "in a way never before seen in Britain".

The customer uses mPowa by downloading the free app and plugging in a separate card reader device into their phone, via the headphone socket or wireless Bluetooth. The reader device checks the card and a user types in their PIN.

Mr Wagner said mPowa would enable businesses to take payments immediately and reduce bad debt. The firm will take a 25p or a 0.25 per cent fee on each card processed.