Written by Chris Cameron / February 16, 2010 9:10 AM /
It was reported Monday night by the blog iPhone Alley that Square, the coming mobile credit transaction service that is co-founded by Twitter's Jack Dorsey, will be launch in the early part of this summer for just the low price of $1. Just by plugging a small square card reading device into theheadphone jack of the iPhone, anybody with the device can immediately conduct credit card transactions using the service's iPhone application.
Running credit card transactions usually means opening a special merchant bank account and dealing with various fees. Any bank account will work with Square, and the only bill to incur to use the service is $1 for the card reader accessory and the application; however, Square can afford to give away the dongles because they will be banking 2.9 percent of each transaction. Users can also choose their favorite charity and Square will donate a penny to it from a dividend of each transaction.
Not only could this application be the new best way to pay back a friend who bought your drinks at the bar, but it could also become a killer application for small entrepreneurs. For just a dollar, anyone can have the capacity of a full blown credit card reader on their phone. Small businesses won't have to resort to transacting only in cash, and data entry would be made simple with the service tracking each receipt. Square recently procured an introductory video to familiarize people with the service.
A similar service and device from mophie which is called "marketplace" plans to bring a credit card scanner to their popular line of iPhone cases. Using this device would mean being stuck with a mophie case, and though the price of this device has not been announced, a mophie's case can range from $10 for a basic hard case to $100 for their battery pack cases.
Frequent users might be more accepting of a case implementation like the mophie over a small, easy to lose dongle like Square. Square's website says that the accessory will work with "any device with an audio input jack," which means very likely that the app will work with both the iPod touch and iPad. One question mobile doubtfuls may have for both of these services is how it will function if the device lacks an internet connection or cell signal and can payments be set to be settled at a later time?
VIA ReadWriteWeb
Keyword: Credit cards
