Mophie, known primarily for their battery packs and cases, is about to jump into a whole new ball game: credit card readers for the iPhone. Initial thoughts were Mophie was simply releasing the credit card reader as an alternative to typing your credit card into various applications by hand or, perhaps, as a more aesthetically pleasing piece of hardware for Jack Dorsey’s Square.

It appears that Mophie might be getting ready to square off against Dorsey’s service with a software solution of their own. Here’s what Mophie said on the matter:

Marking its first combination hardware and private label iPhone application device, mophie is launching its innovative new credit card reader, empowering users to complete financial transactions on the go.

The wording was just vague enough that it left things unclear; they are indeed bringing their own software. Under that definition, this could still be little more than an easier way for consumers to input credit card numbers while ordering online. MobileCrunch prodded for more info and here’s the response:

The credit card reader works with an iPhone application and is meant for small business owners to conduct transactions easier.

So it looks like Mophie is getting into the transaction business. Whether or not they’ll be handling the payment processing themselves is still unclear. Look for more details to emerge during CES next week.

[MobileCrunch]

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