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Squareup

squareup.com

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Re: Squareup

#21

Post by bumblebird »

pxlpshr wrote: post #17
bumblebird wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Close to what paypal started as. Then they realized people didn't want to send payments using their PDAs, they wanted to send them via email.

...and obviously paypal was ahead of it's time, and I doubt the execution was as clean or user-friendly as square.

I don't really understand the niche it's aiming to fill. Most stores/restaurants have portable card readers these days, so is it a poor-mans one of those?

I guess I'm wondering what use-case it's aiming at.

Also I absolutely would not trust someone swiping my card through one of these. I like a closed box that is obviously provided by a bank, which cannot be tampered with. Not an iphone that could be doing anything with my details.

Re: Squareup

#22

Post by Tichy »

This could revolutionize begging. One of the last jobs that has not benefited from the computer revolution yet.

Re: Squareup

#23

Post by bumblebird »

tsetse-fly wrote: post #18
bumblebird wrote: post #7

How is this better than keying in the cc number + expiry date? Also I don't think this would work with chip+pin cards would it?

Is it not obvious? Why don't retail stores type in your credit card information instead of swiping it? Chip and PIN doesn't seem to exist in the US so I'd imagine they're not targeting it immediately. I don't see why they couldn't expand the hardware to support it though.

AFAIK reading the chip is non trivial, and involves heavy encryption and proprietary hardware/software. Maybe though :/

Re: Squareup

#24

Post by uggedal »

tbgvi wrote: post #20

Interesting idea, I really like the hardware piece. Not sure how large of a market there is for this. Mom + Pop stores use CC terminals (cheaper than an iPhone), so that leaves this open to mostly people who accept payment outdoors at farmers markets, sports events, etc.. For that to work you'd have to be comfortable giving a merchant your credit card, which isn't a sure thing considering they can disappear without a…

The sex industry could be a large market.

Re: Squareup

#25

Post by tsetse-fly »

bumblebird wrote: post #23
tsetse-fly wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it not obvious? Why don't retail stores type in your credit card information instead of swiping it? Chip and PIN doesn't seem to exist in the US so I'd imagine they're not targeting it immediately. I don't see why they couldn't expand the hardware to support it though.

AFAIK reading the chip is non trivial, and involves heavy encryption and proprietary hardware/software. Maybe though :/

Chip and PIN is a standard. They wouldn't have to reverse engineer it or implement from scratch.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chip_and_PIN

Re: Squareup

#26

Post by tbgvi »

uggedal wrote: post #24
tbgvi wrote: post #20

Interesting idea, I really like the hardware piece. Not sure how large of a market there is for this. Mom + Pop stores use CC terminals (cheaper than an iPhone), so that leaves this open to mostly people who accept payment outdoors at farmers markets, sports events, etc.. For that to work you'd have to be comfortable giving a merchant your credit card, which isn't a sure thing considering they can disappear without a…

The sex industry could be a large market.

Could be :)

Something like this could get merchants who don't traditionally accept credit to start

Re: Squareup

#27

Post by tom_b »

I like it from the person to person interaction level.

What about wear and tear on the audio in jack? Gas pumps and grocery stores have card swipers that look like little tanks bolted on.

Re: Squareup

#29

Post by kareemm »

tbgvi wrote: post #20

Interesting idea, I really like the hardware piece. Not sure how large of a market there is for this. Mom + Pop stores use CC terminals (cheaper than an iPhone), so that leaves this open to mostly people who accept payment outdoors at farmers markets, sports events, etc.. For that to work you'd have to be comfortable giving a merchant your credit card, which isn't a sure thing considering they can disappear without a…

it's unclear to me whether you need a merchant account to use square; i'm assuming from "0-$60 in under 10 seconds" that you don't.

if you don't need a merchant account, the market for this is massive. there are millions of people who provide services and sell products who take cash, check, or paypal only. many of these people are dying to take credit cards with zero hassle, which square lets them do.

Re: Squareup

#30

Post by arfrank »

tom_b wrote: post #27

I like it from the person to person interaction level. What about wear and tear on the audio in jack? Gas pumps and grocery stores have card swipers that look like little tanks bolted on.

Theoretically you could use any headphone extension cord to ease this problem considering it most likely uses an audio signal to pass the information. This would in turn let you attach the reader elsewhere on the phone.

Although it seems like part of the point is to have a tiny device you can just pull in and out of your phone at need be.

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