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The End of the Credit Card? New Square app: Card Case

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Re: The End of the Credit Card? New Square app: Card Case

#11

Post by listrophy »

dminor wrote: post #8

I have to admit when Square first came out I didn't see what the big deal was. A little doohickey to plug into your iPhone to swipe cards - sure, sounds useful for certain merchants, but not something world-changing. It's cool to see that there's a larger plan unfolding. Credit card networks are tough nuts to crack and it looks like they've found a way. Kudos.

The mind-blowing thing, I see, is that—with that little doohickey—Square has single-handedly broken bistromathics[1]. And yes, you can take this comment as a joke, or you can take it seriously.

[1]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bistromathics#Bistromathic_driv...

Re: The End of the Credit Card? New Square app: Card Case

#13

Post by tansey »

patio11 wrote: post #3

That is what disruptive innovation looks like. "Oh look, a multi-billion dollar problem people were trying to solve by getting two sides of the market to simultaneously ubiquitously install new hardware. How about we solve it with stuff they already own plus new software instead?"

What's even better about Card Case is that you don't need every retailer to have it for it to be useful. The example they show in their demo video is perfect: going to your regular coffee shop. If just that coffee shop supports it, Square is already solving a huge headache for both the customer and the merchant. The customer gets easier payments and a more personalized experience; the merchant reduces transaction friction and time, while increasing customer loyalty.

Brilliant.

Re: The End of the Credit Card? New Square app: Card Case

#14

Post by mechanical_fish »

Hmm, perhaps I need to find the time to become an Apple Developer and sign the NDA, for much the same reason that folks who want to write screenplays move to Hollywood: To find out what the industry is going to do, years in advance.

Geofencing is a big deal and I first heard of it... today. How long have iOS devs known? Since WWDC?

Re: The End of the Credit Card? New Square app: Card Case

#15

Post by mechanical_fish »

listrophy wrote: post #11
dminor wrote: post #8

I have to admit when Square first came out I didn't see what the big deal was. A little doohickey to plug into your iPhone to swipe cards - sure, sounds useful for certain merchants, but not something world-changing. It's cool to see that there's a larger plan unfolding. Credit card networks are tough nuts to crack and it looks like they've found a way. Kudos.

The mind-blowing thing, I see, is that—with that little doohickey—Square has single-handedly broken bistromathics[1]. And yes, you can take this comment as a joke, or you can take it seriously. [1]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bistromathics#Bistromathic_driv...

Holy cow, Square is going to have all the pieces to build the ultimate restaurant-bill-splitting application of our dreams.

Card Case doesn't happen to have an API, does it? ;)

Re: The End of the Credit Card? New Square app: Card Case

#17

Post by JoshTriplett »

Yhippa wrote: post #12

Is this really the end of the credit card? It sounds like an abstraction layer for payments. The backing money used to pay will still be some sort of payment source like a credit card or debitable bank account.

As you said, "credit card or debitable bank account"; you already mentioned one way this could avoid a credit card. Now consider that Square controls both ends of the transaction. So, any payment source Square chooses to support will work: credit/debit card, bank account, some pre-paid account, line of credit with Square for which you get a bill later...

Re: The End of the Credit Card? New Square app: Card Case

#18

Post by abraham »

patio11 wrote: post #4
Osiris wrote: post #2

What I find the most fascinating is that the same company is running both the seller and buyer sides of the transaction. Without middlemen, they have a lot of flexibility to determine how the transaction should occur. Right now credit cards rely upon a fairly complex system of gateways and processing and so it's really complex and difficult to change the process. I wonder if a security feature they could add would a…

Rather than attempting to have minimum wage employees and average netizens understand what one-time use auth code means, how about we just pop a window on their phone saying "Krispy Kreme wants to charge you $5. Hit the big green button."

People understand debit card pins just fine. As long as they get labeled as such there won't be any confusion.

Re: The End of the Credit Card? New Square app: Card Case

#19

Post by hugh3 »

My problem with all of these systems is the same: I'm disorganized, I forget to charge my phone or bring it along, and so the chances of me having a fully charged, working, switched-on phone with me when I want to buy something are far lower than my chances of having a wallet.

Re: The End of the Credit Card? New Square app: Card Case

#20

Post by ryanwaggoner »

But I heard that Square was totally irrelevant because they were only "innovating" based on the outdated paradigm of the credit card system.

/sarcasm

Don't confuse where a startup is today with where they're headed. Sometimes you have to tack against the wind to get to where you ultimately want to end up. The best startups are those that can make money while also setting up for a huge play that no one else is positioned to pull off.

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