Business Opportunities Weblog

Cheap & Simple Credit Card Processing

By on December 14, 2009 in Ideas

An entrepreneur may have the best product in the world, but if he or she doesn’t accept credit cards, it can be a problem. That’s something St. Louis glass artist Jim McKelvey learned the hard way, and it’s also why he was inspired to create Square, according to a report on trendspotter Springwise.

Cofounded with Twitter founder Jack Dorsey, Square lets small business owners begin accepting payment cards immediately without the contracts, expensive hardware, monthly fees or hidden costs that are typically required.

Using Square’s intuitive app and a small plastic device that plugs into a mobile phone’s audio input jack, payment cards can be swiped and read anywhere. Customers can have receipts sent to them via email or mobile phone and then access them securely online; they can also use text messaging to authorize every payment in real-time.

For those who create a Square account, meanwhile, there’s faster transaction processing and the option of photo verification. Now in limited beta, Square will donate a penny from every transaction to the cause of the user’s choice. It will be widely available in early 2010. The reader devices will likely be free, while the app will cost about USD 1, according to a report in the Los Angeles Times.

Photo by Square.

credit iphone technology

Rich Whittle has added 6,226 posts to Business Opportunities Weblog.

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  • http://www.prestigemerchantservices.com Credit Card Processing Texas

    On the surface this may look cool but it’s certainly not the best way to go. Many companies now offer free payment gateway services allowing you to connect your iPhone and blackberry to your merchant account for no additional charge and without a contract and lower rates than square.

  • http://www.retailmerchantservices.co.uk Lee Knight

    On the surface it looks like an ideal solution for tradesmen and people working away from the office but whether or not this will be suited to the UK market remains to be seen. None of the big four banks have shown an interest in bringing this product to the market and only one independent processor, Retail Merchant Services, has considered introducing this technology alongside their existing mobile credit card payment technology.

  • Richard Brown

    My only concerns are the fees these new mobile apps are charging for each transaction? since this is a new feature, only a few merchant account providers will be offering to process payments from them. Wouldn’t it be more professional to obtain a proper wireless terminal?

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