Square Payment System to launch on iPhone, iPad and Android this week?

Expected to be available this week at the App Store and Android Market is the Square Payment System which turns your iPhone/iPad or Android device into a credit card reader. With the reader plugged into the phone's 3.5mm audio jack, you simply swipe the card after entering information about the transaction, and you receive an approval. Retailers using the system will have to pay 2.75% of the amount of the transaction plus 15 cents, but that is much lower than other services and does not even take having to buy more expensive hardware into consideration. If a mobile card reader is something that your business could use, check out the video below.

source: Square

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posted on 20 Oct 2010, 01:46

1. ostranderterry (Posts: 61; Member since: 14 Apr 2010)

Wow, that's pretty cool - my friend is a locksmith and this would help him out a lot, get instant approval right there on the spot instead of writing down the info and then finding out later that the card was declined, lol

posted on 11 May 2010, 11:07

2. Gsmalltheway (Posts: 200; Member since: 15 Aug 2009)

Yeah toe truck drivers and cab drivers will benefit too

posted on 11 May 2010, 11:18

3. ostranderterry (Posts: 61; Member since: 14 Apr 2010)

never seen a cab driver take a credit or debit card, but I've never been to a big city and taken a cab, anytime I ever went we drove there - there's a lot of positive applications for this, thinking about going into business myself!

posted on 30 May 2010, 22:28

4. LizBB (Posts: 1; Member since: 30 May 2010)

I have been using Sage's Payment Boss (http://www.paymentboss.com) which is also a mobile payment solution. It calculates taxes, emails receipts, and supports multiple currencies. The key difference between Square and Payment Boss is the integration with an invoicing software. With Payment Boss, I am able to track who paid for what product/service for which sales amount. This is all tracked in their free online invoicing software Billing Boss (http://www.billingboss.com). I've used merchant accounts in the past, and my bank statement never provided information on where the credit card sales came from. To my knowledge, Square would be similar. Plus as Ostranderterry's friend experienced, I used to write down the customer's info, charge the card at home, then find out the card is declined. The Payment/Billing Boss integration gives me a full set of information which allows me to provide better understanding of my clients and their purchases. Plus, I automatically build a database of my client details, and have access to their contact details whenever I need to launch a marketing campaign or find their address while I'm on the road. The best part of the integration is that my accountant has access to all invoices I create and payments I receive. She just downloads the report, quickly upload all my data to her accounting software, and does the accounting for me. I don't have to worry about sending files to her. I personally think Square is a great app, and I was pretty excited when I saw the videos. However, for a business which needs end-to-end tracking, other solutions like Payment Boss may be more suitable. Full Disclosure: This author has been compensated by Sage. I am their Social Media Consultant but I was using their product well before Sage contracted me. They found me when I sent them an email praising them about Billing Boss!