In a move that may enable large numbers of very small merchants to begin accepting credit cards, Intuit announced that its GoPayment merchant tools will be sold at 2,300 Verizon Wireless stores.

Sharna Brockett, an Intuit spokesperson, said the importance of the deal is that it will put the tools in front of many more small businesses.

“This is the first time many smaller businesses can easily and affordably accept credit cards on their phone,” Brockett said Thursday.

She added that GoPayment eliminates the need for a merchant to have a wireless terminal for processing credit cards, technology which she described as “expensive, heavy and clunky.”

“GoPayment lets the merchant process payments on the phone you already carry with you,” Brockett added.

Payments, she said, are deposited in a merchant's financial account within a few business days.

In a statement, Mike Schaefer, executive director of the Business Solutions Group for Verizon Wireless, added, “Payments and transactions are often the biggest hurdle businesses face. Our value proposition is to streamline, simplify and enable business owners to get paid with minimal delay.”

The GoPayment card reader attaches to a merchant's smartphone via the audio jack. Verizon Wireless customers can get a GoPayment reader for free with activation of a GoPayment account. The reader costs $29.97, but a rebate for that amount is available.

The basic service has no monthly or transaction fees. Swiped transactions incur a 2.7% fee. A paid version of GoPayment is also available for $12.95 a month; swiped transactions on that plan incur a 1.7% fee.

GoPayment apps are available for iPhone, Android and BlackBerry phones and also run on some tablets.

The Intuit Payment Solutions division said it now processes more than $17 billion in transactions for approximately 300,000 small businesses. The California-based company's Intuit Financial Services operation, meanwhile, provides online and mobile banking and related e-commerce services to approximately 1,800 credit unions and banks.