The Square: This Android & iPhone "App" Accepts Credit Cards

Spending money has always been a favorite subject in the mobile business world, especially if you are spending your money with them. This is at least something that empowers you to be on the receiving end of those credit cards. With that in mind and without further ado, welcome to Square.

I Want to Be Square!
Mobile credit card processing is not new. What is new, though, is the possibility of you (yes, I mean you) accepting credit card in your normal daily life for anything. Until now, having a merchant account was needed to accept any brand of credit cards. That meant annual fees, transaction fees, contracts, the cost of a mobile card reader and other things that made it impossible for you to accept a credit card from, say your mom for a little "college cash."

The simple fact was, you had to be a merchant and you would have been required to maintain PCI compliance (*Shudder*) as well as a business or even a state tax license. Square is promising to change all that by making a dongle that plugs in to your mobile device through the headphone jack . This device allows you to accept credit cards at any time from anyone.

The Break-Through
What is so different about this is the sudden explosion of smartphones in the last year. With the release of the iPhone, the smartphone market went ballistic and never looked back... Now, Android is beating Apple for market-share and smartphones are slated to take over the world.

This means that credit card mobile readers are passé, the technology that runs them (telephone jacks?) would not be enough to fetch your mail on your Android powered phone. This has allowed Smart to create a small, simple magnetic stripe reader and an app in conjunction with the reader that allows you to accept your friends' (or Mom's) credit card, swipe it through your smartphone and even have them sign the receipt (not that you would EVER ask, right?). It even allows tipping!

Now You Can Be a Merchant Too!
This service comes with a full compliment of merchant services such as tipping (mentioned above), account tracking, inventory creation and receipt management. Additionally, as mentioned above you can accept signatures for receipt verification. The service even allows you to accept a transaction without the card to swipe, called a Keyed-In transaction; for a small fee added to the normal price for the transaction, of course. This is obviously intended for small business but is open to anyone.

There is no merchant account needed, as the company provides all of the necessary validation and security. You will only need to download the app, get the dongle and start collecting. How long do you think it will be before the kid that mows your lawn is offering to take credit cards? Perhaps maybe even the paperboy, if you still have one that is.
Future of Smartphones
The smartphone revolution is only just beginning and we now have the beginnings of a Universal Translator and Augmented Reality. Now we also have one of the key elements in micro-enterprise; the ability to accept credit card is now a reality. This will radically alter how we do business day-to-day and open up many opportunities for individuals to better themselves.

So next time your mom says "...sorry honey, I don't have the spare cash" you can just hold up your Android smartphone and smile. It is also available for iPhone if you happen to be one of "those people..." (Wink wink)

Resources & References
SquareUp: Features
Engadget: Square Opens Public Trial for iPhone Payment System