Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Square Register

squareup.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

91–100 of 125 posts

Re: Square Register

#91

Post by unicron »

This is a gimmick or a hack. Not much better than what you will see on hackaday.com

I did a LOT of POS work a few years ago for small businesses. An iPad/iPhone would be dead and broken in less than a month for most retailers. You need pretty hard wearing industrial grade kit if you don't want to throw it away 3 times a year. That flimsy card reader is almost comedic - you'll break it and your device.

If it's your revenue collection equipment, it makes sense to buy something that will last i.e. was designed for the job rather than sit there not being able to take cards.

Re: Square Register

#92

Post by hboon »

yalogin wrote: post #87
rythie wrote: post #69

I can't actually remember the last time I swiped my card and signed for anything, because we in the U.K., like most of Europe, use Chip and Pin (EMV is the official name). I wonder if Square will still function when this gets pushed into the U.S. market. Surely this is due soon in the U.S.? http://corporate.visa.com/media-center/press-releases/press1...

Square will be in trouble if NFC takes off. That is why its coming up with what I think is its main product line, the register. The credit card reader thingy is not where it makes money. Once prople get hooked on the analytics it can hope to add the NFC functionality in and still keep going.

Square as a company isn't tied to credit card processing. Credit cards just happens to what's popular now. If NFC takes off, the company will run with it. When that happens, the shops just need a new attachment or a device upgrade, the software just works.

i.e. this would be how I would have done it.

Re: Square Register

#93

Post by dodedo »

pbreit wrote: post #86
etfb wrote: post #73

Must be an American thing, I guess. Is EFTPOS (ie debit card) less common in the US than in Australia? Seems odd to provide a credit card service by itself. People don't pay for coffee and things on credit, do they?

Why not? Why pay now when you can pay later for free?

With 1% cash back, no less. I try to funnel all my expenses through a card -- and pay in full each billing cycle naturally.

Re: Square Register

#94

Post by bergie »

underwater wrote: post #13
tricolon wrote: post #6

One piece is missing: a much more robust card reader that doesn't swivel or threaten to snap in two after a day of swiping.

I saw a poor barista trying dozens of times to make the reader accept a card the other day (Square + iPad, not sure if they were using this exact set up). It got quite violent. The scanner does really seem to be far too flimsy to be the primary payment mechanism in a busy business.

This will hopefully become less of an issue once NFC payments take off

Re: Square Register

#95

Post by dmix »

Thomaschaaf wrote: post #62

I don't understand where the actual cash came from in the video. Would this mean I still have to have a register to store the cash in? Wouldn't this make the whole process borked again?

If you scroll down on the sales page, theres a wireless/ethernet controlled cash box that can be purchased.

Re: Square Register

#96

Post by driverdan »

rplnt wrote: post #58
modeless wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I noticed a local business (Blue Moon Burgers) using iPads as registers, using similarly flimsy (though not Square) card readers. They gave up after a few months and switched to a traditional POS setup. I don't know whether it was the card readers that were to blame, but I'm guessing they were part of it.

External card reader would be much more expensive because it has to (IIRC banks enforce it (probably thanks to insurance companies)) encrypt all communication with the "register" (in this case iPad). So it can't be just some dummy device.

AFAIK only PIN pad units require encryption but my knowledge could be out of date.

Re: Square Register

#97

Post by driverdan »

yalogin wrote: post #88
fufulabs wrote: post #21

No other startup has ever been so primed for an Apple acquisition. Everything from execution, design sensibility, culture and even CEO is heavily Apple inspired but in a different but still complementary industry.

Square is a POS, cash register company. Why would Apple be interested in it?

It's an area ripe for disruption. Apple is already a payment processor (iTunes) and has easy to use touchscreen devices (iPad). Seems like a good fit to me.

Re: Square Register

#98

Post by toadi »

rythie wrote: post #69

I can't actually remember the last time I swiped my card and signed for anything, because we in the U.K., like most of Europe, use Chip and Pin (EMV is the official name). I wonder if Square will still function when this gets pushed into the U.S. market. Surely this is due soon in the U.S.? http://corporate.visa.com/media-center/press-releases/press1...

http://techcrunch.com/2011/10/18/europes-square-izettle-rais...

izettle is European version of Square. They use EMV off course.

Re: Square Register

#99

Post by andrewjshults »

zecho wrote: post #40
newhouseb wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When you would normally sign a printed receipt, you sign with your finger on the iPad with the Square app (most implementations I've seen have iPads on a swivel stand that turns around to face the customer). In the example video they show a customer being charged via Card Case which is the more integrated form of transaction but not the common case.

I've seen this a handled a few ways, depending on the merchant. 1. They show me the price before submitting it. I ask for a receipt sent to my email, which they need to type in, but I get it on my own phone immediately. The clerks I've seen do this HATE having to type in my email address because they invariably type it incorrectly. 2. The ipad swivel. I sign with a stylus, type in my own email address and choose to s…

From my experience of paying with Square, I only had to manually enter my email + phone number the first time I paid. Every time since then it's been automatically populated. Swipe, sign and the receipt is in my email second later.

Re: Square Register

#100

Post by Game_Ender »

unicron wrote: post #91

This is a gimmick or a hack. Not much better than what you will see on hackaday.com I did a LOT of POS work a few years ago for small businesses. An iPad/iPhone would be dead and broken in less than a month for most retailers. You need pretty hard wearing industrial grade kit if you don't want to throw it away 3 times a year. That flimsy card reader is almost comedic - you'll break it and your device. If it's your re…

Apple uses iPod touches with a more beefy card reader setup in their retail stores. You could do the same with a slightly modified iPad case, and a reinforced reader.
Post reply on HN