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Squareup

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Re: Squareup

#141

Post by jamiequint »

SwellJoe wrote: post #118
volida wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I didn't criticize the idea. I up voted the story. I just answered specifically to the comment, referring to the security aspect. Paypal was losing 10 million USD from fraud, so hope won't do it for the security. "assume that people aren't going to be swiping their cards with random people" Assuming, just won't do it.

And, I'm not arguing with you. I think fraud will be a big part of the problem they have to solve. I'm just pointing out that fraud has been solved in other novel payment processing cases in the past and will be solved for this particular case by someone , possibly this company, possibly one of the several likely competitors that will spring up (payment processing is incredibly lucrative if you do solve the fraud pro…

I wouldn't be surprised if they were working with Palantir (ex-paypaler company) and using their fraud detection software, since PayPal has already been through this whole ordeal, its probably a much more solvable problem now than before, at least someone has figured it out.

The interesting thing here is that PayPal made all their margins by encouraging people to use bank accounts rather than credit cards because they made almost no profit on credit card transactions. I'm interested in how this revenue model will work out, it seems like merchant services providers have arrived at their current model of business (arduous checks before granting accounts) out of necessity. Since Square is basically in the merchant accounts business (that's where their margin is) it will be interesting to see if they actually know something that merchant service providers do not about granting accounts to anyone who wants them without more verification.

I've always wondered why merchant service providers didn't instantly verify accounts and allow people to start charging immediately, but hold the captured funds while the account was verified with all the proper checks. Maybe that is what Square is doing.

Re: Squareup

#142

Post by drusenko »

vaksel wrote: post #37

This sounds like a money grab business to me. They'll launch, make a couple hundred mil, then they'll get hit with fraud, a ton of people will lose money, and they'll be forced to shut down, since noone will want to use the service, in fear of getting defrauded. Since there is no barrier to entry, it'll be like 2 weeks before someone comes out with a black market version, that will look exactly the same, but instead…

Fraud is much less likely here than on PayPal, for example, for multiple reasons:

a- Card present. Chances of fraud when the card is swiped are much lower than when it isn't (for obvious reasons). b- Signature. This lets you have a basic form of authentication for the user after the fact (oh, didn't make this purchase? Why is this your signature?) c- Location. Each purchase is tagged with the GPS coordinates from the phone. d- If need be, pictures. You could always snap a quick photo of the cardholder if the transaction comes up as a serious fraud risk.

Yes, there are still risks of the person skimming your card info, or stealing your CC number another way, but these are risks present in the entire credit card system.

It's certainly much safer than PayPal, and they're doing alright.

Re: Squareup

#143

Post by techiferous »

I'm very impressed by the quality of the front page. Instantly I knew what the product was about. The style of the site is very professional. And the information at the bottom of the page is extremely well organized.

I haven't seen a web site that communicates this effectively in a long time. Kudos to the front page designer!

Re: Squareup

#144

Post by pegobry »

To me the biggest roadblock to widespread adoption is the fact that many small merchants want cash & not plastic, not because a card-reading device is expensive, or complicated, or what, but because cash is off the books.

Re: Squareup

#145

Post by bumblebird »

noodle wrote: post #130
bumblebird wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is really weird for me. In the UK we've been trained to not just allow people to swipe our cards into just any hacked together device. If the device doesn't look 100% 'official' I wouldn't touch it with my card.

well, what makes an official looking device safe? ATM and gas station skimming is a big issue. do they do restaurant payments different in the UK? would you simply hand your card over to a waiter to pay a bill? what prevents the waiter from just writing down your info? you wouldn't even see a device there. i think that its just an issue of trust. you won't necessarily trust someone with a hacked together device on a…

Generally we don't let our cards out of our sight. Indeed most of the time I handle my own card and it's only rarely that a shop assistant will handle it. (So writing down info isn't a big concern).

The portable POS devices allow the customer to tip as well BTW.

"They" don't run cards much any more. It's a case of consumers putting their own cards into chip+pin devices and keying in their PIN.

Sure @ disputes, we have similar, but it's an extra hassle and not fun.

Re: Squareup

#146

Post by jarsj »

diN0bot wrote: post #140
asciilifeform wrote: post #89

This may come as a shock to some, but: Magnetic cards (and all existing RFID equivalents) are bad. Instead of encouraging their use, we should be creating the mostly fraud-proof obvious alternative: one in which a single transaction does not give the other party permanent access to your wallet. Picture a card with a key pad on it, for entering a dollar amount. The transaction (through RFID?) would be valid for only t…

totally. one of my housemates reads and writes magnetic strips for fun. we buy a couple memberships to something and then duplicate the cards to share.

hey, will you care to share some leads. I am interested in learning this (for fun ofcourse).

Re: Squareup

#148

Post by pbhjpbhj »

diN0bot wrote: post #140
asciilifeform wrote: post #89

This may come as a shock to some, but: Magnetic cards (and all existing RFID equivalents) are bad. Instead of encouraging their use, we should be creating the mostly fraud-proof obvious alternative: one in which a single transaction does not give the other party permanent access to your wallet. Picture a card with a key pad on it, for entering a dollar amount. The transaction (through RFID?) would be valid for only t…

totally. one of my housemates reads and writes magnetic strips for fun. we buy a couple memberships to something and then duplicate the cards to share.

we buy a couple memberships to something and then duplicate the cards to share

Hey that does sound fun, it also sounds like criminal fraud.

Re: Squareup

#149

Post by pbhjpbhj »

idm wrote: post #57
Tichy wrote: post #22

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

Funny, but there's something serious lurking in this comment. Think about how US dollars declare, on the face of the bill, that the currency is good for all sorts of transactions (all debts, public and private). Even a beggar can get in on the use of this currency. People can easily give to a beggar with almost no overhead, and the recipient can spend the currency almost anywhere. Credit isn't anywhere near that yet,…

Great so instead of repaying my friend $10 I can repay him $10 and pay the bank a transaction fee for the privilege ... something there is not making me shout for joy.

Re: Squareup

#150

Post by pbhjpbhj »

jeremymims wrote: post #124

The feature I'm most excited about is e-mail receipts. If I never had another paper receipt again, I'd be perfectly happy. I also think using the audio jack as the reader is incredibly smart. Actually, there are two things about this system that I really like: 1. I can see a future where paper receipts are a thing of the past. 2. If someone uses my card fraudulently, I'll receive an e-mail a minute after it happens a…

2. If someone uses my card fraudulently, I'll receive an e-mail a minute after it happens alerting me that something is amiss.

And then? Do you think the banks will assume responsibility for allowing the fraud?

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