Some small business owners around the country were doing very little business for a few hours this afternoon, thanks to a widespread network outage for mobile payment system Square. [More]
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Square Users Find Their Accounts Suddenly Deactivated, Customer Service Proves Useless
By 11.20.15
If you’re a small business that needs to process credit card payments on a smaller scale than say, a big box store, there are some popular options out there, one of which is Square: you might know it as that white or black plastic card reader that can plug into a smartphone or tablet. It’s easy to get an account — but unfortunately for some customers, it’s not so easy to find help when Square suddenly deactivates that account. [More]
Square Trying To Help Small Businesses Meet October Deadline For New Chip & PIN Credit Cards
By 8.13.15
A survey released last week by Wells Fargo found that a majority of small business owners aren’t prepared for the October deadline to switch from traditional swipe-and-sign credit card transactions to the supposedly more secure chip-and-PIN card system. Now, one mobile payment company says it wants to take some of the burden off the shoulders of these companies by offering to pay for any charges incurred from a breach — as long as the business owner has ordered its new card reader. [More]
Starbucks Ditches Square, Will Cease Accepting Wallet Mobile Payments In Coming Months
By 12.19.14
The two-year long partnership between Starbucks and mobile payment system Square is coming to an end, as the coffee company had decided to ditch the mobile payment company’s upcoming new system in favor of its own mobile ordering solution. [More]
Square CEO Says Company Will Accept All Forms Of Payment, Even Apple Pay
By 11.21.14
While Walmart and other major retailers are deliberately holding off on accepting Apple Pay because they are developing a competing mobile payment system, there are plenty of small businesses who want to offer Apple Pay but don’t want to invest too much in the equipment required to accept it. The folks at Square, which turns your smartphone into a card reader, hope to remove that roadblock early next year when they start enabling clients to accept Apple Pay. [More]
Amazon Launches Card Reader, Payment System To Compete With Square, PayPal
By 8.13.14
Amazon continued its push to appeal to small and medium businesses Wednesday with the launch of Amazon Local Register, a mobile point-of-sale service to challenge mobile payment companies like PayPal, Intuit and Square. [More]
What’s The Fastest Way To Beam 10 Bucks To A Friend?
By 4.21.14
Let’s say that you owe a friend money, but you can’t just hand them some cash and call it a day: your friend lives in a different state. What is the easiest, most cost-effective, and most importantly the fastest way to beam money from one person to another? Over at the Wall Street Journal’s Marketwatch, staffers decided to race four different services and see how they differed. [More]
People In Alaska Are The Best Tippers, People In Delaware The Worst
By 3.27.14
Sure, Internet comment threads seem to be evenly split between generous tippers and people who resent the practice, but what about the population at large? Credit card payment service Square analyzed their transaction data and found some interesting patterns in tipping by state. We don’t want to draw any wider conclusions, but we’re also giving Delaware a sidelong glance. [More]
Chicago Taxi Driver Charges Passenger $800 For Two-Mile Ride
By 3.19.14
Here’s an important lesson in why you should never let your credit card leave your hand when paying for a cab ride: A 20-year-old college student’s parents realized their daughter had been charged almost $800 for a two-mile cab ride in Chicago, unbeknownst to her, all because the driver claimed his machine wasn’t working. [More]
How Technology & The Power Of Suggestion Are Getting People To Leave Higher Tips
By 2.28.14
Most American restaurant-goers are used to writing a tip on the receipt after they enjoy a sit-down meal, but with a growing number of eateries — like food trucks and pop-up restaurants — that straddle the line between traditional dining and fast food, it’s unclear whether customers are expected to leave a tip or just be on their merry way. That’s why some new payment systems include an extra step to put the idea of tipping in the consumer’s mind. [More]
Scammy Pedicab Drivers Using Smartphone Credit Card Device To Overcharge Customers
By 7.22.13
For reasons I’ll never be able to comprehend, some visitors to New York City enjoy being chauffeured around in pedicabs, which combine the slow pace of a horse-drawn carriage with the discomfort of a rickshaw. But what these people don’t enjoy is when they find out they have been scammed out of money from pedicab drivers who use a smartphone credit card scanning app to tack on hidden fees. [More]
Starbucks Hooks Up With Square & Hands Over $25 Million In Mobile Payment Deal
By 8.8.12
Starbucks and Square are totally hooking up and aren’t afraid to let everyone know about it. The sprawling, ubiquitous coffee chain says it’s going to invest $25 million in Square as part of the deal, which will also have Square processing the retailer’s debit and credit card purchases. [More]
Salvation Army Bell Ringers Will Accept Credit Card Payments With Their Smart Phones
By 11.16.11
The Salvation Army has announced that they are testing Square, a service that allows a smart phone to accept credit card payments. The test will take place at 40 locations in Dallas, San Francisco, Chicago and New York. Previous attempts at accepting credit cards weren’t successful, but the Army is feeling optimistic that consumers will adopt this new way of paying. [More]
Square Mobile Credit Card Payment App Is Awesome Yet Freaky
By 5.12.10
Bill is understandably terrified of the Square app, which lets devices with audio input jacks and online connectivity accept credit card payments. That means iPhones, Droids and what have you are every bit as equipped to siphon money out of your accounts as crusty convenience store clerks with cash registers. [More]
