Square introduced "gift cards" (gift certificates) as a feature in their Square Wallet app:
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https://squareup.com/wallet#gift-cards -
http://vimeo.com/53634501 -
https://squareup.com/help/en-us/article/5080-sending-and-redeeming-gift-cardsThis provides a method for a person to buy a gift certificate and pay for it using a credit card.
The recipient of the gift certificate can then use the funds to make a purchase from the merchant chosen.
Essentially one way this is used is as an account-to-account (A2A) transfer:
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http://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/A2A_Transfer_MethodsWhy this is relevant to Bitcoin is because this provides a method for someone to sell bitcoins for a "gift card" through Square where the buyer can pay with a credit card. Of course to protect from the risk of a chargeback, if the buyer is not trusted the seller will want to spend the gift card received before delivering the bitcoins.
The list of merchants who run Square register (available to anyone using an Android or iPhone on mobile or tablet) is about 250,000 in number:
[Edit - here's the directory:
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http://squareup.com/directory ]
Many of these are coffee shops, cafes and similar types of small-business merchants, so this won't help really in facilitating $500 trades. But someone wanting to trade $40 of bitcoins can probably find a place nearby they would dine at for dinner and now have a relatively easy way to cash out their coins.
The recipient of the gift card does not need to have a credit card or bank account associated with the Square account, and does not even need to use Square -- the gift card can be printed and the paper QR code taken to the merchant and used for payment.
This should be a fantastic tool useful for those wishing to do more over-the-counter (OTC) trading.