Jack Dorsey: Today Starbucks Signed up for Square

Post by ceejayoz » Wed, Aug 08, 2012, 3:02 PM UTC

pja wrote: post #141

abalone wrote: post #115

Here's what's in it for Starbucks: Square's cheaper. Square loses money on transactions below $6. The reason is for the sake of simplicity they waive the per-transaction fee that Visa/Mastercard charges them and just charge a flat percentage of 2.75%. But even though this is a relatively high percentage, it's not enough to recoup the cost of the per-transaction fee at low transaction sizes. Take a $2 coffee charged t…

"We'll lose money on every transaction, but make it up on volume!" I'm going to optimistically assume that Square have run the numbers and this deal is worth the price though. As a marketing exercise alone it could be worth a fortune if it ends up putting Square's branding in every Starbucks.

Post by mikenon » Wed, Aug 08, 2012, 3:26 PM UTC

twoodfin wrote: post #118

mikenon wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the US charging a minimum for card transactions is usually a violation of your contract with Visa/Mastercard, and possibly a violation of the law in 10 states [1]. Are there similar contracts or laws in France? [1] http://usa.visa.com/personal/using_visa/checkout_fees/

That's about checkout fees, not minimum charge amounts. Minimum charge amounts used to be forbidden by basically every merchant agreement, but thanks to Dodd-Frank and a lot of retailer lobbying, such contact terms are now illegal. Card issuers must allow a restriction on charge amounts (no more than $10 IIRC) if the retailer so desires.

Post by stonemetal » Wed, Aug 08, 2012, 3:44 PM UTC

seabee wrote: post #112

stonemetal wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My wife actually thinks it is rude to pay with cash or check when people are waiting behind you in line. Cards are the fastest way to pay, you don't even have to sign for purchases under a certain amount.

You don't enter a PIN? That process easily makes it take longer than cash.

Post by mattmaroon » Wed, Aug 08, 2012, 3:48 PM UTC

timjahn wrote: post #140

faramarz wrote: post #14

This announcement makes me happy, for Square and Jack Dorsey as a young business leader. I love everything about the business idea, execution, design and tone of the overall strategy. Noteworthy points from the press release The partnership terms include: - Customers will be able to use Pay with Square, Square’s payer application, from participating company operated U.S. Starbucks stores later this fall, and find nea…

" - Starbucks will invest $25 million in Square as part of the company’s Series D financing round;" Wait, what? Is this Starbucks buying a slice of the decision making process to ensure things are generally in their favor?

Post by themckman » Wed, Aug 08, 2012, 4:12 PM UTC

jurre wrote: post #103

ErikHuisman wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here in the Netherlands people are encouraged to use debit cards even for small amounts. Sometimes even with a small discount. The largest supermarket chain has way more "pin only" cashiers than pin and cash. It's cheaper and saver to process.

Yeah, but on the other hand it's hard to find a place where you can pay by credit card, even the large super market chains don't accept them. Although almost no one here uses them because are debit card system works very well.