PayPal is king when it comes to accepting online payments and donations when you are unable to accept credit cards through a authorization machine. But there is another system which is available that allows you to accept credit card payments through actually swiping the card on your mobile phone device.
Cool, huh?
The folks over at Square, Inc. have invented a system in order for you to process credit card transactions effortlessly and in real time. Currently, the Square, Inc. system can be used on the following devices: iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, and most Droid phones. It is not available for the Blackberry elite….yet.
The system works through an audio input jack that is used on your mobile device, which is called the Square Reader. The audio jack is sent to you free by Square, Inc. once you have signed up for the service. To sign up, all you have to do is download the Square, Inc. software from their website choosing your applicable mobile device.
Then you will be good to go!
Once you are rocking and rolling, you can swipe credit card payments and send receipts via email. No more paper receipts! There are no monthly fees, contracts, or hidden costs according to the website. No merchant fees either! Sounds pretty good! Accept tips, donations, payments, and much more!
To learn more about the power of the swipe, visit Square, Inc.’s website. You can also follow them on Twitter @Square.
As an up and coming business owner myself with my consulting gig, a tool like this looks like it’s right up my alley. I will have to use it on on iPod Touch for now, but I hope the software will be supporting the RIM family.
Now, will you be dropping Pay Pal for SquareUp?
Special thanks to Jason Anderson at G Style Magazine for the heads up!
What a cool and a brilliant idea! This is great news for small businesses who wants to accept credit cards as a buyer’s payment option who would like to avail stuffs from them.
Are you nuts? Square doesn’t even list a Post office address or phone contact or physical address or legal origin. And you trust them with your customers data? Their card reader is perfect for card skimmers, it provides unencrypted account data. Maybe you should try it before you recommend it.