The Square is Revealed!
December 9, 2009 
1 Comment
A new jump in mobile payments is here. Twitter creator Jack Dorsey has finally publicly unveiled the Square. This is a little ingenious device that allows small businesses to take credit card payments anywhere with their smartphone. In our view this will revolutionize the small business world in the way that they are able to sell. While beta testing the unit now, it will not be available until March 2010.
The way the Square works is that it plugs into the headphone jack on most mobile smartphone devices. The cube that is attached is about an inch in length and allows the business owner to swipe credit cards. Then you are able to deduct payment online or off like many retailers do today. The customer then will sign the touch screen of the device with their finger for the signature. There will be software that has to be installed on your phone in order to read and use this information properly.
The best part is that Mr. Dorsey told the public that the Square would be given away for free. Let’s imagine how easy it would make it for local sellers to now take credit cards while they are selling at farmers markets and craft shows. There are thousands upon thousands of small sellers that did not have a way to collect credit cards before, but if they have a smartphone, then they will be able to with ease. This will transform their business for the better as 90% of Americans use credit cards. This is a market that every business owner needs to be able to conform to and the Square does just that. While there are some fraud concerns, they are working on those now to make sure that this application is fraud proof. Let’s see how this takes off when it is launched, but we think it could be the next big thing in mobile payment technology.
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This should be a great thing for businesses that deal with local farmers markets. I run a bakery that sells at farmers markets and the square would be perfect in order to get credit card payments. Most people do not carry cash with them, so mobile credit card processing would be excellent.