Payment technology and service company First Data has announced the availability of Clover Mobile, a mobile point-of-sale business solution. According to the company, Clover Mobile enables more personal consumer engagement for small- to mid-sized businesses by taking the functionality of the company's Clover Station off the counter and onto the floor. First Data said that more than 26,000 Clover Station units have been deployed since its launch seven months ago.

Armed with Clover Mobile, merchants can place orders, take secure payments, scan inventory, clock-in employees, sync sales data with their accounting packages and generate marketing insights that can lead to stronger, enduring customer relationships, all with a portable, tablet-sized device, the company said. This means restaurants can accept payments at the table; retailers can use it for line-busting at busy times; brick-and-mortar stores can use it as a full-featured payment and business solution; and on-the-go merchants can use the device for their mobile needs.

The company said Clover Mobile can be paired with Clover Station or work as a standalone solution offering full register capabilities with access to menu and the Clover App Market with First Data's Insightics solution, Perka loyalty and Gyft prepaid solutions, as well as other popular apps.

"With open APIs, Clover's POS systems create exciting new opportunities for third-party app developers by opening up a much wider market for developers to create and market new apps, meeting the needs of a broader segment of merchants," said John Beatty, co-founder and president of engineering at Clover.

Clover Mobile processes standard card swipes and features a "dip" to support chip-and-PIN EMV transactions. The device's NFC capabilities allow Clover Mobile to accept contactless payment including the new Apple Pay, and its barcode reader allows merchants to quickly scan goods for inventory purposes or for checkout. Clover Mobile also features a mobile printer that can be mounted on a merchant's belt to provide customers paper receipts remotely upon request without returning to the register.

Clover Mobile is currently piloting and will be available to merchants worldwide in 2015.