Comparing Clearent’s Mobile SDK and Mobile App

We kicked off 2024 by officially launching our much anticipated Xplor Pay Mobile App, which small businesses can use through a merchant account to capture credit card payments from anywhere, anytime. With recent interest from ISVs, we wanted to reintroduce our Mobile SDK. Our Mobile SDK is a customizable payment solution that app developers can leverage to embed seamless payment acceptance within their own business management application.

In this article we will be showcasing the similarities, differences, and where ISVs could best leverage each solution within their current SaaS offering. Let’s jump right in.

What is Xplor Pay Mobile App?

With a signed merchant agreement, any Clearent merchant can download the Xplor Pay Mobile App on iOS or Android to get access to simple and secure payment acceptance from their mobile device or tablet. At the core, our application is great for businesses needing payments on the go, or for its ability to process payments with Offline Mode even in the case of poor internet connection or outage.

Key Features & Benefits of the Xplor Pay Mobile App

Before we dive into the Mobile SDK, let’s quickly discuss highlights of the Mobile App.

Available on iOS and Android: Clearent merchants are able to download the Xplor Pay App on iOS or Android devices to securely accept credit cards from anywhere, anytime.

Offline Processing Mode: Sometimes poor internet gets in the way of merchants accepting payments, with Offline Mode merchants don’t have to worry about missing a sale. This mode allows merchants to capture payment days with or without internet, and securely store the transaction data to be processed when better connection is available.

Bluetooth Pairing for Card Reader: Accept all major card brands via swipe, chip, or tap with a compact bluetooth card reader.

Complete Voids and Refunds: Within the app merchants are able to complete voids for unsettled transactions and refunds for transactions that have already been funded.

Built-In Reporting: Merchants are able to access transactions, batches, and fees within the app allowing easier management of their businesses finances.

Cash Discount with Dual Pricing and Surcharging Capable: Our app offers merchants the ability to reduce credit card processing fees 75-95% with dual pricing or surcharging functionality.

Superior Security with P2PE & Tokenization: Merchants can rest easy knowing their customers’ data is secure. Our app protects sensitive information with advanced tools like tokenization and PCI-Validated Point-to-Point Encryption. 

Secure Transactions with Signature Capture: Capture signatures within the app at the time of the transaction helping to prevent fraud and chargebacks.

Tips Enabled: Our mobile app is tip enabled to allow merchants request and process tips.

Emailed Receipts: Merchants are able to quickly share receipts for each transaction via email.

What is a Mobile Payments Software Development Kit (SDK)?

Now that you have a foundation for the mobile app and its features, let’s showcase the highlights that do and do not translate to the Mobile SDK for ISVs.

The Clearent Mobile SDK is a comprehensive solution for embedding secure payment processing into mobile applications. Designed for both iOS and Android platforms, it enables seamless credit card payment acceptance within mobile apps. The SDK emphasizes ease of integration for ISVs with a user-friendly interface that supports extensive customization, allowing developers to tailor the user experience to meet their specific needs.

Key Features & Benefits of the Mobile SDK

In App Payment Processing: With functionality on either iOS or Android applications, our Mobile SDK gives app developers a simple to integrate payment solution for their app. This solution transforms your app into a single source for doing business and collecting payments. It gives your users access to secure payment processing within your app, where they need it most. Merchants are able to process all major card types via contactless tap, EMV chip, or swipe through our bluetooth-enabled card readers or simply or by inputting the card information directly into your app.

Offline Processing Mode: Just like our mobile app, merchants will have the ability to collect payments with or without internet connection. With the SDK, ISVs are able to control whether this is or is not available to merchants. If the ISV enables this feature, the merchant can enable/disable as they please.

Cash Discount with Dual Pricing and Surcharging Capable: Our SDK can be optimized with Dual Pricing or Surcharging capabilities offering merchants the ability to reduce credit card processing fees 75-95%.

Hosted Modals & Customization: Our SDK can be leveraged with or without hosted modals. If you choose to use our modals, know that they can be fully customized including fonts, colors, background, and buttons to better match your mobile app design.

Ability to Manage Readers and Bluetooth Pairing: Our Mobile SDK features flexibility managing all things bluetooth. Without the heavy lifting of building complicated bluetooth logic, our solution can manage the bluetooth enabled card readers, the pairing process, the reader list and list priority, and reader naming conventions. If you want to build the logic on your own, don’t worry, you can still take that route!

Superior Security with P2PE & Tokenization: Our Mobile SDKs work with Clearent’s Quest™ Mobile Payments API securing your users’ payments with layered security (P2PE & Tokenization) and eliminating your software’s PCI PA-DSS scope.

Secure Transactions with Signature Capture: Our Mobile SDK can be configured to capture signatures within your app at the time of the transaction helping to prevent fraud and chargebacks.

Tips Collection: ISVs can enable, disable, and customize tip prompts and defaults, allowing app users to request and process tips.

Emailed Receipts: Merchants are able to quickly share receipts for each transaction via email.

Additional Features That Keep Your App Out of PCI Scope

The following features were solutioned in a way to offer you the control of user payment experience and to keep you out of the PCI Scope.

Robust Reporting API: By leveraging Clearent’s Reporting APIs, ISVs are able to quickly offer a robust in-app reporting experience comparable to a POS solution. ISVs are also able to design and build their own reporting structures.

Transaction APIs for Void & Refunds: ISVs can leverage additional APIs to help users quickly perform transaction maintenance such as voids and refunds using our simple Quest APIs to complement the experience. 

Processing Terminal & Account Selection: ISVs can control which account and terminal is being used for transaction processing and reporting.

Use Cases

Ideal Scenarios for Xplor Pay Mobile App

While the Xplor Pay Mobile App might not seem essential for your Software Business offering, it still has its perks. At its core, this is an off-the-shelf mobile app that can be used by any Clearent merchant at any time and anywhere. Considering a feature like Offline Mode, it ensures merchants don’t miss an opportunity to collect payment in the moment. All that considered, this solution can be positioned for on the go merchants or as a backup method that ensures payments can be captured any time, anywhere.

Ideal Scenarios for Xplor Pay Mobile SDK

Our Mobile SDK is built for partners who have native apps and want to build payment acceptance within it to maintain experience control, monetize payments, and to create a more complete application offering.

Wrap Up

In conclusion, our Mobile SDK and Mobile App both offer simple solutions for your users to be able to accept payments. While the Xplor Pay Mobile App provides a ready-to-use platform for Clearent merchants to accept payments on the go, the Mobile SDK offers a customizable framework for embedding payment processing capabilities directly within business management applications.

Both solutions boast features like offline processing mode, cash discount with dual pricing, and superior security measures, yet they cater to different scenarios. Whether you have a mobile application currently available, in the works, or just want to offer an out of the box mobile payment solution, our Mobile SDK or Xplor Pay App could be for you.

Want to chat about offering your users one or both of these solutions? 

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