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Square gets the backing of credit card giant Visa

by Kelly Hodgkins Apr 27th 2011 at 2:30PM

Mobile payment startup Square confirmed it received a strategic investment from Visa. Square produces a credit card reader that connects to the headphone jack of an iPhone, iPad or other mobile platform. The Square application on the device accepts the credit card information from the reader and processes the payment on the fly. It's an easy way for small businesses to accept credit card payments with minimal hardware requirements and a small 2.75 percent per transaction fee. [Past TUAW coverage of Square is here. –Ed.]

The company is growing -- in the first quarter of 2011 alone, Square processed US$66 million in payments and predicts it will triple that figure to an astounding $198 million in Q2. Square also expanded its retail footprint and is now available online from Apple and in Apple retail stores in the US.

This endorsement by a major credit card company boosts the startup's reputation and could help the company exceed its lofty goals. The amount of money invested by Visa was not disclosed, but Square confirmed Visa will become an advisor to the company. Visa and Square are excellent partners, as over two-thirds of Square's payments are made using Visa-backed credit cards. Though it enjoys a cozy relationship with Visa, the mobile payment service will still accept payments from MasterCard, American Express and Discover.



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Mobile payment startup Square confirmed it received a strategic investment from Visa. Square produces a credit card reader that...
 

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7 Comments

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Ld

I am so tired of "when will a non-US version be available." A company can make a fortune servicing strictly a US market, or European, or Asian, or whatever market without worrying about the others so a US company serving a US market makes sense. Having been in a company that tried to serve the world from day one I can assure you it is a mistake. BTW I have lived in various parts of Europe three different times and loved them all so this is not Euro-bashing, just good business sense. Oh and we Americans ate too stupid or fearful for chip and pin. American Express tried it and it failed.

April 28 2011 at 11:46 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Kelmon

I wonder if/when they will add the ability to read chips on cards and process the PIN code of the customer. Swipe is fine for the US market, although I do wonder why it is so far behind the rest of the world, but we'd need a Chip & PIN solution for overseas markets like "normal" mobile terminals.

April 28 2011 at 5:28 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Shunnabunich

Translation: suck it, Verifone.

April 27 2011 at 7:37 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
gbrandt

But when will we be able to use it in Canada?

April 27 2011 at 3:33 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
cmurder

This makes a lot of sense for Visa, as Square reaches a lot of folks that wouldn't necessarily take credit cards anyway. Also makes it less likely for Square to try to disintermediate them.

Interesting link - here's a comparison between Square and a standard merchant account: http://feefighters.com/square-calculator

April 27 2011 at 3:26 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to cmurder's comment
frank

wow, thank you for that link - i was trying to keep track of this and figure it out on my own! i've been using square for a year, and believe it's much cheaper, but it's nice to be able to do this on a per-job basis. (btw, any idea if there an app that does this? lol)

April 27 2011 at 3:55 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
tobor68

MAKE IT WORK IN CANADA!!

April 27 2011 at 3:16 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
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