That pits Chase-backed GoPago against not just Square but a big line-up of deep-pocketed rivals such as PayPal, VeriFone, Intuit, NCR and new startups like PayAnywhere, SalesVu, LevelUp and others. But GoPago believes it’s got an ace up its sleeve: it’s offering an entirely free package for retailers with no monthly charges and free hardware, including an Android tablet with Verizon 4G service, a tablet stand, cash drawer, receipt printer and a credit card reader. It’s also throwing in free 24/7 support.

This is in contrast to companies like Square that offer tablet apps but require you to buy your own tablet. And it competes directly with offerings from Intuit and NCR, who make cash registers and receipt printers and sell them as a bundled package for businesses. NCR, for example, rolled out NCR Silver last month, which sells for $619, and includes an iPad stand, wireless receipt printer and cash drawer. Users pay $79 a month to connect a mobile device and up to $29 a month each for additional devices.

So how can GoPago make this work for the long haul? Well, it’s working with Verizon to offer the tablets for free and it’s hoping it can attract enough businesses to justify the costs. A lot of merchants are interested in mobile payment options and tablet-based payment systems, but it can be hard making the initial investment. GoPago is hoping to make it easy for merchants to make the step up by offering a free, complete package out of the box.

“We think GoPago Live will turn the payment industry on its head. This is so much more than POS (point of sale). It’s a total solution for brick-and-mortar business owners. We’re redefining and resetting the bar for modernizing business payments and loyalty programs,” said Leo Rocco, CEO and founder of GoPago in a statement.

GoPago will charge businesses 2.85 percent on all card transactions. That’s higher than other competitors, which is one way it will try to make its money back. Ordering ahead through the GoPago mobile app will include a 5 percent transaction fee. The system also includes a loyalty program, CRM software and a way for businesses to create their own mobile storefronts.

It’s an interesting move though it’s going to to take a lot of volume to make this pay off. I think GoPago’s free offer may resonate with some businesses but it will have to compete on day-to-day services and value-added features like its line-skipping app to really stay in the game. Having JP Morgan Chase as an investor might give it some breathing room because it allows Chase to get some good feedback on mobile payments. But with so many options now available to businesses, it’s going to be hard just fighting through all the noise.

GoPago, which is getting underway in San Francisco and Dallas first, and should be available nationwide later this month, represents just another sign of how big this opportunity is in re-imagining the cash register for small businesses. Square is off to an early lead but the pack of rivals is nipping at its heels, coming up with different ways to compete. Some like Intuit and NCR are focusing on their hardware and software packages while LevelUp is reducing the cost of transactions to nothing but charging for loyalty campaigns. For Square, the battlefield is getting more cluttered with competitors trying to cut off its growth options. But the flood of entrants also means more confusion for merchants, which can help a startup that has built a strong brand early in this space.

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The company is launching its cloud-based mobile payment system in San Francisco on Tuesday, the start of a nationwide rollout that will spread to Dallas, Chicago and New York City later this year. The service, which previously had a small pilot in Mountain View, Calif., and Las Vegas, allows consumers to order and pay ahead from their mobile app and essentially skip the line at all kinds of businesses, from restaurants and hair salons to dry cleaners and coffee shops. That’s where it’s trying to make its mark: by helping people streamline their shopping experience, not just their payment experience.

Users will just download the GoPago app (iOS, Android and BlackBerry), find a participating business and then browse through their selections, adding any orders to their cart. If they’re a regular at a business, they will get prompted to buy their usual orders. They can alter orders or put in special requests before checking out with a credit or debit card on file. The order gets routed into a business’ system and the user gets a notification confirming the order and the  expected wait time. When it comes time to pick up their order, they just flash a digital receipt to the merchant.

Leo Rocco, CEO and founder, GoPago, said it wasn’t enough to just take on credit card transactions. He said he looked to build a smarter system that provided more value to consumers than other mobile payment systems.

“The fact is I get the usual at the same business so why am I even standing in line? Let me own the menu,” Rocco said. “I don’t think we should replace credit cards for the sake of that. We don’t have a mobile payment problem, we have a mobile shopping problem.”

Designed for merchants too

The system isn’t just designed to make life simpler for consumers. GoPago is also working to make it easier for all kinds of businesses to adopt the system by doing a lot of back-end work, so companies can quickly integrate GoPago into their existing point-of-sale systems. The platform works with 80 percent of the existing POS systems, or merchants can handle sales through their own GoPago tablet app. With about one hour of work, businesses can map their product fields to the GoPago consumer app and configure the look and feel of the app. Once the system is in place, businesses can notify users, push out custom offers and reward their customers through a process that can be automated.

Businesses can expect to pay anywhere from 2.5 to 5 percent on transactions in lieu of traditional credit card transaction fees. They can also get rich analytics on their sales and performance through GoPago’s tablet app. GoPago is getting a good initial response from merchants. It has signed up more than 520 businesses in San Francisco in the last two months and will be gradually activate their services over the course of April.

Chase provides cash and more

The San Francisco company got a big boost in February from JPMorgan Chase & Co, which announced it was investing in the startup. But the bank is also providing additional support by encouraging its merchant customers to sign-up for GoPago. Rocco believes that with Chase’s help, it can ramp up business sign-ups to more than 1,000 a week.

GoPago will have plenty of competitors, from NFC-based systems like Google Wallet and Isis to more cloud-based competitors like PayPal, Dwolla, LevelUp and Square. Start-ups like PayDragon and Yorder are also in the mobile ordering and payment space as well, as is food services like Seamless and Grubhub. Rocco believes that GoPago works because it doesn’t require major hardware upgrades like NFC and has better backing from Chase than other startups. And he believes the back-end work separates it from Square, which handles transactions through its smartphone and tablet apps. PayPal could be a big competitor and is also targeting ordering ahead through upcoming changes to its mobile app. But Rocco believes many small merchants are still wary of PayPal’s parent company eBay.

Trying to differentiate by enabling pre-ordering and payment sounds good, but my sense is that many cloud-based systems will work to enable the same features. Also, not every business can really take advantage of pre-ordering to the same effect. The fees charged by GoPago could also give some businesses pause if they’re not convinced the service is worth the extra charge. The key will be in making the system really pain free for both consumers and merchants. In that sense, I still think GoPago can do well because they’ve done some heavy lifting to make it easy for many businesses to get on board. And it helps to have a trusted name like Chase behind you, who can help convince business customers and consumers to come on board. Chase will also let its cardholders that use GoPago receive exclusive offers and discounts from Chase merchants. GoPago faces a lot of competition but it’s showing it can be a serious contender. Unfortunately, there’s a lot of them emerging and it’s still early days.

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