ROAM Data, the company behind the secure card readers used by most mobile POS solutions (think Intuit's GoPayment or Sage Payment Systems), has announced an interesting new application for its mobile platform and commerce APIs. ROAM, along with Washington D.C.-based Event Farm, is looking to get rid of the traditional box office.

Event Farm's eponymous new app eliminates the need for fully staffed ticket windows and paper tickets, ROAM said. Using ROAM's encrypted card reader and mobile payment services, venues can sell tickets at the event or online. The API, available to event organizers and producers through Event Farm, keeps track of all ticket sales, either online or via a mobile device at the event, in real time. Customers don't even need to print tickets or meet up with others in their party before the event, ROAM said. 

"What is groundbreaking about what we are doing is that our app is fully integrated into our ticketing platform. We are not just independently charging credit cards on a mobile device," said co-founder and CEO of Event Farm, Ryan Costello.

Costello said that ticket inventories on the app are synched with sales happening in real time online and vice versa.

"Equally as important," Costello said, "this service does not require the purchase of expensive hardware — it uses mobile phones and dongles — and is secure and fast."

According to ROAM Data EVP Ken Paull, the Event Farm application is the first of its kind and shows the potential for other types of POS-style apps for other industries.

"ROAM was created to offer businesses a secure and frictionless mobile commerce experience without having to buy new hardware or change their existing business processes," Paull said.

ROAM, the secure credit card reader, and API work on iOS and Android devices.