Another mobile payment option for small businesses is being piloted in the UK from the company behind GoPayments in the US.

Intuit includes a free mobile app and a chip and PIN card reader. It enables small businesses to take on the spot secure credit or debit card payments using a smartphone or tablet. It also offers online payments from a PC. The service has been approved by Visa and MasterCard.

A survey conducted by Intuit of 1,000 firms with less than 10 employees in the UK found that 19 per currently accept card payments. 47 per cent said they would if there was a more affordable way of doing so using smartphones or tablets. There are around 4.6m micro-businesses in the UK, according the Department for Business Innovation and Skills.

“It can take weeks to get set up, the equipment and transactions can be expensive and there is no easy way to take payments on the go,” said Terry Hicks, vice president for products for Intuit’s global business division. “With Intuit Pay you can sign up and begin accepting card payments within minutes.”

Intuit processes $36bn of payments every year across desktop, web and mobile in the US. The company was founded in 1983 and had annual revenue of $4.15bn in its fiscal year 2012.