Free merchant accounts for everybody! Square gets $27.5 million funding

[Stephen Gornick]

I've seen the Square in the news, but didn't know PayPal was considering partnering with them.

If you aren't familiar with Square -- they make it trivial for an iPhone or Android user to start accepting credit card for payment.  Square charges 3.5% + $0.15 per "card not present" transaction, and 2.9% + $0.15 per transaction when using their "square" card-swiper phone attachment.  No monthly fees, no contract.  Square will send you the attachment dongle thingy for free.  Android supported as well as iPhone.  

Transact up to $1,000/week.  

I've read that Square handles chargebacks by imposing an arbitrary hold (e.g. 14-day +/- based on history) on funds received and limits the transaction size to $60 -- unless you request a higher transaction allowance which requires a more thorough credit check.  I've already read that

From the article:

The latest funding comes from Sequoia Capital, giving the San Francisco start-up a valuation of $240 million,

PayPal already enables credit card payments in its merchant services but adding Square or a similar service could improve the point of sale user experience.

  http://gigaom.com/2011/01/10/square-adds-27-5-million-to-play-with-the-big-boys


Also interesting:
  http://tomnoyes.wordpress.com/2010/12/12/square-up-update/
  http://www.quora.com/From-a-startup-perspective-what-are-Squares-biggest-challenges

Apparently accepting payment via mobile is a good business to be in at the moment.

Good thing Bitcoin has :

• tcatm's Bitcoin JS Remote: thread | http://tcatm.github.com/bitcoin-js-remote/
• Bitcoin client(s) in Java

[Stephen Gornick]

Apparently accepting payment via mobile is a good business to be in at the moment.

Major Retail Point of Sale Initiative in USA [Bitcoin Forum]
  http://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2628.msg37261#msg37261

And some related info:

One way Cimbal stands out [from Square] is in its ability to speedily authorize payments and settle transactions in real time. What this means is that merchants or consumers who accept a mobile payment via Cimbal will find those funds deposited into their accounts instantly.

  http://blog.cimbal.com/2011/01/cimbal-a-finalist-for-the-2010-red-herring-global-100-award

New forms of currency will continue to grow.

Facebook Credits launched in 2010 and have already emerged as a meaningful form of currency.

Many players in the payment space have introduced their own virtual currency in recent months, but it is questionable if all of them make sense and will survive.

In 2011, major entertainment and social networking providers will continue to introduce their individual forms of currency or branded checkout system.

    http://www.mobilecommercedaily.com/mobile-payments-industry-to-experience-monumental-growth-in-2011-mopay

[Stephen Gornick]

Square’s focusing on the unserved – folks like you and I who have iPhones in our pockets and/or iPads in our backpacks – but who can’t get traditional merchant accounts. Square’s willing to take us in and allow us to accept credit/debit cards on our mobile devices. Voila, suddenly things begin to happen.

 http://paymentsviews.com/2011/01/22/innovations-in-card-acceptance/

Willing to take us in?  How noble of them.

[Stephen Gornick]

Along similar lines to what Square is offering:

comes bundled with a Sage merchant account to allow SMBs to expand their payment options by accepting credit and debit cards on 400+ types of mobile phones and computing devices

Sage Payment Solutions is offering Sage Mobile Payments for a nominal set-up fee, a monthly fee as low as $10.95 and no incremental mobile processing or transaction fees. The product is also available with an optional, end-to-end encrypted card reader (card swiper) [from RoamPay].

I inquired and learned that for Sage's offering the $10.95/mo is for a three year contract.  For a one year merchant account agreement contract the monthly is $13.95/mo.   The rate quoted for a swiped transaction is 1.5% plus $0.20 per transaction. [edited]

  http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/Sage-Launches-New-Mobile-Payments-Product-Says-No-to-Mobile-Processing-Fees-1391443.htm

  http://www.sagepayments.com/Sage-Mobile-Payments/

[Drifter]

I'm pretty sure I've read in Square's agreement, or somewhere on the site where they are only designed for in person sales. The card not present option is only for customers who just happen to have their credit card number just don't have their card on them, when you make a sale in person. It can't really be used for online purchases as far as I'm aware.

[Stephen Gornick]

Square charges 3.5% + $0.15 per "card not present" transaction, and 2.9% + $0.15 per transaction when using their "square" card-swiper phone attachment.  No monthly fees, no contract.  Square will send you the attachment dongle thingy for free.  Android supported as well as iPhone.  

Square dropped their fees.  Now it is 2.75% and there is NO per-transaction fee.  The fees for "card not present" charges didn't change.
  http://squareup.com/pricing

That certainly seems to be competitive.

[Stephen Gornick]

Square dropped their fees.  Now it is 2.75% and there is NO per-transaction fee.  The fees for "card not present" charges didn't change.
  http://squareup.com/pricing

That certainly seems to be competitive.

Incidentally, Intuit (QuickBooks, TurboTax, Mint, etc.) matched Square by adding a free (no signup cost, not monthly charge) option for accepting credit cards:
  GoPayment
  http://gopayment.com/pricing.html

  For a limited time, new signups receive a free card-swipe reader (from Roam Data).
  The transaction rate for this free plan is 2.7% + $0.15 per-transaction fee.  The fees for "card not present" is 3.7% + $0.15 per-transaction.   

  A high-volume plan has a monthly charge and a higher per-transaction cost but a lower swipe rate.

[theGECK]

I use Square for my side jobs when people don't want to pay in cash. It's wonderful - no problems for me.

[Stephen Gornick]

The banks are turning into formidable competitors:

Now with your consumer U.S. Bank account you can accept a check from a business or individual, scan it with your iPhone (or PC based scanner) and the check is deposited immediately.   The check can then be archived or destroyed.  This is called Remote Deposit and Mobile Remote Deposit.
  http://www.netbanker.com/2011/03/us_bank_launches_both_pc_and_mobile_remote_deposit.html

The charge is $0.50 per check.

This might be something useful to a trader who wishes to accept a check in-person in exchange for bitcoins.  Remote Deposit is still not an irrevocable payment method however, whereas bitcoin transfers are irrevocable so trust will remain a factor when transacting with checks.

This type of service had already been available to JP Morgan Chase bank customers (iPhone only, not PC scanner) and to some customers of USAA bank (mobile and PC).

[Stephen Gornick]

Square, founded by Twitter's Jack Dorsey just got $100 million in additional funding -- C Round, announced yesterday:
 - http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/06/29/square_money

Then today Square adds Mary Meeker (yes, that Mary Meeker) along with Larry Summers (yes, that Larry Summers) and Vinod Khosla (venture capitalist and co-founder of Sun Microsystems) to its board.

 - http://blogs.forbes.com/nicoleperlroth/2011/06/29/mary-meeker-joins-board-of-square-capping-off-a-billion-dollar-valuation/

Must be a lot of potential in the P2P mobile payments space.

[Update: Definitely a good sign for Webcoin / BitcoinJS
  - http://www.bitcoinmoney.com/post/7006766689 ]

[BitcoinPorn]

Must be a lot of potential in the P2P mobile payments space.

!!

Thanks for posting all this, read most but will be checking some of those links later.  Not familiar with the, I thought this was going to be about Final Fantasy, this is much better.

[Stephen Gornick]

 ... nice:

When new merchant accounts are verified, Square looks at their social footprint: their Facebook page and number of fans, their Yelp reviews, Twitter followers and retweets, blog posts, Flickr photos, Google Street view, etc. All these things are taken into consideration before a merchant is determined to be a "real" person, and not a dummy account of some sort.

 - http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/are_the_new_square_hacks_a_real_concern.php

Ha ... will your business get rejected just because you have no followers on Twitter?

[Stephen Gornick]

Latest on what Square is doing with their $100 million in capital ...  other than throwing parties ( http://www.bitcoinmoney.com/post/10332991782 ), settling into fancy offices ( http://www.bitcoinmoney.com/post/9609463011 ) and commissioning ice sculptures ( http://instagr.am/p/NR3Ky ).

They're shipping software!

The Square Register app for iPad:
 - https://squareup.com/register
 - http://vimeo.com/37709985

And hiring college kids to go around and pester merchants into getting rid of their old POS registers and Verifone card swipe terminals:
 - https://squareup.com/jobs/os4OVfwZ

[JennyHill]

This is the future of payment systems just as Bitcoin is going to be. Thanks for posting this but you should have put it in another sub forum where is could receive the proper recognition. This needs a bump.

[Stephen Gornick]

How to accept Bitcoin payments:

Purchase an iPad   [Square might help a merchant with this part, and the base.]

Purchase an iPad stand (which has a swivel base)
 - http://www.tinkeringmonkey.com/square-register-stand

From an iPad download the iOS version of My Wallet from BlockChain.info/wallet:
 - https://blockchain.info/wallet/iphone-app#  (and click "View download instructions)

Download Square Register app:

 - https://squareup.com/register

Ring up sale and accept cash, credit card, or bitcoin.

When ready for payment, tap Charge.  The following is displayed:



For bitcoin payments, use the Blockchain for iOS app to convert the USD price into an amount of Bitcoins.  
 - [Blockchain for iOS and Android does this for USD.  Also http://Preev.com will work for other currencies.]

From the Blockchain/wallet My Wallet website click Receive Payment and enter the amount of BTC to accept.  This will show the QR Code.

Swivel the iPad stand so customer can scan the QR code with their mobile

Swivel back and watch for Payment details to show the payment received (a few seconds in most instances)

On Square Register app, enter the USD amount and tap Tender.

Print a receipt for customer.  Print a second receipt and write down amount of BTC payment for reconciling by back office.

Say thank you to customer.

And perhaps a thank you to Square for the free, advanced point-of-sale app:
 - https://help.squareup.com/customer/portal/articles/385188-square-register-how-do-i-process-a-cash-payment-

[Stephen Gornick]

 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjb9tb7EU3s

So what will it be?   Save 3% by paying with bitcoin, or would you rather "pay with your face?"

[Stephen Gornick]

So what will it be?   Save 3% by paying with bitcoin, or would you rather "pay with your face?"

Or both:

Jack Dorsey, Twitter, Square founder: "Bitcoin is an amazing movement.."

If it becomes huge and accepted in the world, Square will accept it.

 - http://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=109375.0

[sauc1er]

what about a 100$ android tablet and AcceptBit.com ?

[RandomQ]

(I've used Square to sell bitcoins Locally for almost 3 months now)

Square is still able to reverse credit card transactions to your bank account if the Credit Card Owner Files a charge back.

This is no magic fix for scammers, this is still reversible just the same as PayPal, Greendot, etc

I found a way to get around the Charge back problem with square, but I don't want to disclose the method because it can be used for massive fraud.
I'm sure some smart people already use the method to protect these type of transactions against charge backs.