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Square starts testing a mobile payment system for the iPhone
Square, the startup behind a potentially game-changing mobile add-on that turns your phone into a portable credit card payment system, is best known thus far for the involvement of Twitter founder Jack Dorsey. I have a feeling Square is going to be a ubiquitous sight within the next couple of years, though, because it's just so dang useful. For small businesses or points of sale where it's just not practical to have a full-sized credit card scanner - I'm thinking concert merch booths, farmers' markets, and beyond - Square could result in a lot of additional sales to customers who don't carry cash.
Of course, that means a nice revenue stream for Square, which takes a small fee for each transaction. As far as the physical device, manufacturing costs are reportedly low enough to make it cheap, or maybe even free. If you want to be one of the first to give Square a try, you can put your name on the list for the closed beta now. Square is starting out on the iPhone for the time being, with plans to expand to other devices in the future.
[via CNET]
Comments
2
Subscribe to commentsFabianDec 2nd 2009 12:21PM
I just can't get the scene from Zak McCracken out of my head:
Homeless bum begging for money and our hero paying by credit card...
smokingplatypusDec 2nd 2009 1:07PM
my only concern is security of transactions, when using a device that isn't uniform, standardized and secure, e.g. a typical credit card machine. I think it'll be easier for the actual transaction to be compromised due to platform security issues.