San Francisco, Aug 15 (IANS/EFE): Global e-commerce company Amazon has presented a credit and debit card reader for mobile devices in the style of Square or PayPal.

The Amazon Local Register is a small extension that plugs into the connector for earphones on a smartphone or tablet and which, after the user - typically a small-business owner - downloads the corresponding app, allows card payments to be processed.

Local Register thus converts the smartphone into a mobile point of sale, a situation which can be useful both for small traditional stores as well as taxi drivers and mobile vendors.

The money from transactions can be deposited directly in a bank account on the next business day or may be accumulated to spend on Amazon.

The Amazon card reader is available in the US for $10 and is free if one makes a purchase of more than $35, and it is compatible with the Android and iOS operating systems, as well as with Amazon's Kindle and Fire smartphone.