Being Square is Cool

By Brian Oula In Dec 09 Twitter founder Jack Dorsey launched Square the mobile payments startup, which was named as one of the top 50 inventions in 2010 by Time Magazine. Square is small device that attaches to the audio jack of iPhones, iPads and Android phones to enable credit card payments from anywhere. Last Week, Square was valued at a staggering $1bn after raising $100m in investment something that will have the eyes of ecommerce and mobile banking organisations firmly set on Square. The recent public numbers of Squares performance looks more than decent: in May 2011 Square announced 500,000 card readers had been shipped, 1 million Square transactions, and $3 million mobile payments (per day). I think Square will play a major role in the ever-growing payment ecosystem, alongside players such as Apple, Google, and PayPal. For me, Squares unique selling point is its plug and play functionality and the ability to collect payments on the go. One use that comes to mind would be reducing cash in hand payments to tradesmen, or for use at markets where a cash machine isnt easily at hand. It could also help governments increase VAT revenues from notoriously cash-in-hand industries. There is also an interesting social integration feature called Square Card Case, which allows the user to set up loyalty type cards on their phone. They can then have the ability to Geo-locate where a business is located, have a full history of their orders, and also be able to see what other customers are purchasing. Social integration is an area that Square seems to have an advantage over other mobile payment providers. Square has many possibilities to improve the way we make payments and their initial products look positive. Im looking forward to see Square expand outside the US and partner with more major brands.