Visa Backs 'Square' Mobile Payments System
Credit card company Visa has invested in Square, a mobile payments system that allows users to use their iPhone, iPad or Android device to process credit card payments on the fly.
Founded by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey , Square first appeared at the end of 2009 and launched last year. The company’s product, a small card-swiping device that plugs into the headphone jack on your mobile device, allows users to accept credit card payments via their phone. The idea is that small businesses and individual traders can use this device, coupled with the appropriate iOS or Android application, to rid themselves of those pesky ‘cash only’ signs and allow their customers the convenience of playing with plastic.
This week, Visa added to the $27.5 million Square just raised in new funding and the $66 million in payment volume the company secured in Q1 with an undisclosed amount in a strategic investment. TechCrunch cites COO Keith Raboish as saying Visa’s undisclosed investment will help spread the word about Square to the 27 million U.S. small businesses that currently don’t accept credit cards. The investment will also see a Visa executive become an advisor to Square and lend a certain amount of credibility to the still new product.
At a time when the industry seems to be concentrating on Near Field Communication and making ‘touchless’ payments easier for the consumer, it’s nice to hear about about a technology that helps small businesses up their game. With photo verification and instant, paperless receipts, Square will allow the likes of food cart owners and folks with stalls at farmers market and trade-fairs expand their business. However, if NFC proves to be a big hit and becomes widespread enough for people to consider not carrying their credit cards anymore, Square users could find themselves back at square one. Still, such an event will likely not happen for quite a while, if at all. People would need to see NFC readers at every single store they encountered before they’d consider ditching their card completely.
For more on Square, check out squareup.com.
- Sony: Some PSN Personal Info Wasn't Encrypted
- Google Docs For Android Launched
- IE9 Not Gaining Marketshare, Trouble Ahead?
- Mozilla Announces New Firefox JavaScript Engine
- Electric Scooter Is Eco-Friendly
- Power Pod: The Hideable Power Strip
- Toshiba Reveals Write-Once SD Card
- Transforming Car Becomes A Mobile Home
- Meet the Chair Within a Chair
- Google: Native Video Chat Coming to Android
- Amazon Finally Apologizes for Epic Cloud Failure
- GameStop's Streaming Client Coming to Android
- Hulu Plus Hits the Xbox: Free for All Until May 6
- Sony Hints at Compensation for PSN Users
- Did Apple Just Buy iCloud for $4,500,000?
- Hackers Trying to Sell PSN Data, Incl Credit Cards
- Foxconn Workers Arrested for Leaking iPad 2
- Prostitute Arrested For Stealing Client's MacBook
- Google Sued For Tracking via Android Phones
At the pace of change that the US is going through right now we're going to be using magnetic strips for a looooooooooooooooonnng time to come, (my local store still requires my mom to use the mangetic strip instead of the Blink chip inside the card, and the reader supports blink too!).
Mark of the Beast coming soon...
Wow dude, what does the mark of the beast and god have to do with paying for your groceries?
this makes me question what kind of security and encryption is on the apple iphone for something like this
this makes me question what kind of security and encryption is on the apple iphone for something like this
I think the security and encryption are a part of the Square technology and are completely independent of the the phone and carrier. That is the whole point of the technology that Visa has invested in.
Wow dude, what does the mark of the beast and god have to do with paying for your groceries?
I think the point he inadvertently made is that no matter what sort of advances in technology are made there are always going to be millions of dumb shits thinking it's just some evil thing made by the devil.
I think if you search for Aaron Russo interview you might understand a glimpse of what Firebean is concerned about maybe.
It leads to an inevitable cashless society. Convenient for buying stuff - but it will also come at the price of privacy. People laugh at the idea of a microchipped population. Yet inside or outside of your skin or not, your portable device is slowly turning into one. Ever heard the word `Android'?
Enjoy playing life by your rules..if you really think you are..
I would like to see technological advancements that bring closer and easier money transfers to the traditional ways. The account information is not handed out, but instead a code, bar, square or numeric code, is given when one wants to pay. That code is generated when the user needs to pay, and is valid for let's say 5 minutes. The user needs to input the amount to pay also.
Easier with an example:
I go to a store, I buy 29.99 $ worth of items. I request my account/bank payment for 30 $ (easier to type). They give me the code. The code gets photographed by the salesperson and checked to the bank for withdrawal (or voice transmission of alphanumerical code, or wireless transmission of such code via sms, mms, bluetooth, email and whatever unsecured way to transmit it). The bank tells him code is valid, and waits for approval. The bank tells me somebody is trying to get that code, and if I approve of it. There and then. If I say yes, the bank transfers only 30 $ to him, no other account info or ways for him to overcharge or later charge or anything similar. If I say no, the shopkeeper might try to validate the code again, or we both can go the procedure again.
Once the first transaction is complete, the shopkeeper might pay me back 0.01 $, or not.
If something in my example sounds familiar, is because it is. Just needs more electronics involved, ease of use and portability.
Good job Visa, back a system usable only one OS.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the reason for why Small Business doesn't accept credit cards the insanely high fees that they get charged?
Good job Visa, back a system usable only one OS.
iOS + Android = 1?
iOS + Android = 1?
While i logged in you beat me to it.
Wow dude, what does the mark of the beast and god have to do with paying for your groceries?
It states in Revelations that the you will need the mark of the best to buy or sell anything, and that it will be loved by all. Well, that's my translation of it anyways. I'm not a Christian though, I just do a lot of religious research.
I think if you search for Aaron Russo interview you might understand a glimpse of what Firebean is concerned about maybe.It leads to an inevitable cashless society. Convenient for buying stuff - but it will also come at the price of privacy. People laugh at the idea of a microchipped population. Yet inside or outside of your skin or not, your portable device is slowly turning into one. Ever heard the word `Android'?Enjoy playing life by your rules..if you really think you are..
Thank you Joanna, but still, each to their own.
Interesting that Verifone won that battle... they didn't want to win it, they wanted to cause a ruckus. Still, verifone and Square serve different markets... Square makes more sense for smaller vendors, whereas those doing larger transactions are better off with Verifone.
FeeFighters made a neat calculator showing the differences between the 2:
http://feefighters.com/square-vs-verifone
It states in Revelations that the you will need the mark of the best to buy or sell anything, and that it will be loved by all. Well, that's my translation of it anyways. I'm not a Christian though, I just do a lot of religious research. Thank you Joanna, but still, each to their own.
I thought that that function was filled by the Social Security number. Can't get a job without it, now you can't go to the doctor without it, states are putting it on your driver's license.
Not that I think that this is the actual work of the Devil, but it does seem to fill the description.
This is great! I'd love to see these in common use!
I thought that that function was filled by the Social Security number. Can't get a job without it, now you can't go to the doctor without it, states are putting it on your driver's license.
Don't forget military service numbers.
And my SS card said "Not to be used for identification".
VISA is trying to find a partner to compete with PayPal.