In case anyone from square is reading this - you're page loads absolutely 0 content with JS disabled. Just some feedback, take it or leave it.
[deleted]
Square introduces monthly pricing
81–90 of 152 posts
Re: Square introduces monthly pricing
#82Earlier quoted context omitted.
Very interesting! Perhaps I'm a minority here, but I actually would more prefer just simple cards that are used for payment than a reward-based card (which is why i have a very basic debit card from a credit union). All the airline points and discounts just strike me as marketing more than a real benefit. US Airlines keeps reminding me of the number of points I've forfeited by not using them enough... as if that will…
I've never been into getting mileage or whatever, but rewards cards can be very handy. I basically get 1% off of everything I buy -- I've got a card through Amex with no annual fee that simply sends me a $25 gift card in the mail every time I spend $2500. It's basically effortless -- all I have to do is pay with two cards every once in a while after getting the gift card and buying something for more than $25. If the…
Not to be the debbie downer, as I use rewards cards as well. But there is not such thing as free money. This money you are getting is coming from somewhere. The banks are clearly raking in a$$ loads of cash from the merchant when you use your card. I think it's safe to assume the merchant increases the cost of their goods to offset the fees he pays for transactions. So, the merchant sets his prices 3% higher than he would have to, you pay that extra 3%, get 1% back and think "oh, goodie me, free money", and the merchant breaks even. Sure, you come out 1% above people not using rewards, but it's a net gain of -2%. Credit card companies win.
Like I said, I use rewards cards as well, it's a bit of a tragedy of the commons if you will, everyone just trying to offset their costs for a little, but this just causes the hidden costs to continue to rise.
Re: Square introduces monthly pricing
#83Earlier quoted context omitted.
Very interesting! Perhaps I'm a minority here, but I actually would more prefer just simple cards that are used for payment than a reward-based card (which is why i have a very basic debit card from a credit union). All the airline points and discounts just strike me as marketing more than a real benefit. US Airlines keeps reminding me of the number of points I've forfeited by not using them enough... as if that will…
I've never been into getting mileage or whatever, but rewards cards can be very handy. I basically get 1% off of everything I buy -- I've got a card through Amex with no annual fee that simply sends me a $25 gift card in the mail every time I spend $2500. It's basically effortless -- all I have to do is pay with two cards every once in a while after getting the gift card and buying something for more than $25. If the…
The 1% payout you describe seems to be about the max that customers end up with. Maybe some store specific cards are slightly higher, and maybe the right airline miles.
Re: Square introduces monthly pricing
#84Earlier quoted context omitted.
learn to read: https://help.squareup.com/customer/portal/articles/11861-wha...
Ahh upon further investigation I discovered that the catch is that businesses wishing to do over $21K in sales per month are ineligible. So the product is only for businesses who meet all three of the following criteria: 1) small enough to not need over $21K per month of credit card charges 2) low enough chargeback risk that Square accepts/keeps them as a client 3) are currently paying more than $275 in fees per mont…
Your initial reading is incorrect. Past 250,000/yr, you go back to the normal 2.75% rate; you remain eligible up to that point, and that point is not determined monthly but annually.
Re: Square introduces monthly pricing
#85Earlier quoted context omitted.
Don't forget the up-front fee of $275, so max savings are more like $300. Break-even is $10k per month. It's a nice idea, though I don't know how many companies are in the $10k-$21k/month revenue bucket that would see a benefit. All companies processing over $250k per year can save a max of $300 per month by signing up to the fixed rate plan and then paying the normal fee thereafter. The new fee band gives savings to…
It's not strictly for the band of $10k to $21k per month. It's anyone that makes more than $10k a month because additional swipes after $21k are the same as the opportunity cost. This is a great deal for any company making more than $10k a day, or about $500 assuming 20 working days a month. It's starting to sound like a decent deal that should appeal to a lot of small businesses.
Unless they can find cheaper than 2.75% elsewhere.
Re: Square introduces monthly pricing
#86So if your (small) business takes $60,000 in a year, you will pay square $3300; effectively a rate of 5.5%.
If your business takes $160,000 in a year, you end up paying square a rate of around 2.06%.
Is this really that revolutionary? (.. am I oversimplifying the situation?)
Re: Square introduces monthly pricing
#87Earlier quoted context omitted.
Ahh upon further investigation I discovered that the catch is that businesses wishing to do over $21K in sales per month are ineligible. So the product is only for businesses who meet all three of the following criteria: 1) small enough to not need over $21K per month of credit card charges 2) low enough chargeback risk that Square accepts/keeps them as a client 3) are currently paying more than $275 in fees per mont…
Your initial reading is incorrect. Past 250,000/yr, you go back to the normal 2.75% rate; you remain eligible up to that point, and that point is not determined monthly but annually.
What about chargebacks after 250,000/yr?
Re: Square introduces monthly pricing
#88Earlier quoted context omitted.
I've never been into getting mileage or whatever, but rewards cards can be very handy. I basically get 1% off of everything I buy -- I've got a card through Amex with no annual fee that simply sends me a $25 gift card in the mail every time I spend $2500. It's basically effortless -- all I have to do is pay with two cards every once in a while after getting the gift card and buying something for more than $25. If the…
Not to be the debbie downer, as I use rewards cards as well. But there is not such thing as free money. This money you are getting is coming from somewhere. The banks are clearly raking in a$$ loads of cash from the merchant when you use your card. I think it's safe to assume the merchant increases the cost of their goods to offset the fees he pays for transactions. So, the merchant sets his prices 3% higher than he…
This is a very good point, I wasn't entirely clear there. I meant free in the context of someone who's already using a debit (I assume processed-as-credit at most merchants) card, yet missing out on many of the benefits offered by many credit cards.
I disagree about the tragedy of the commons part -- specifically that it's any tragedy. In order to keep the discussion simple I'm not going to go into the potential for abuse (which is a serious problem) and the charge-vs-credit card distinction, but overall I find cards to be enormously beneficial compared to cash: I can buy pricier items without having to travel to the bank to take out cash in advance or mess around with checks (an annoying, less-secure system that rather scares me fraud-wise), I can buy gas without going inside the building, I can buy things online with ease, I can dispute charges in case of fraud or if a merchant trys to pull a fast one or never ships me the item (and I've been able to do this successfully), and I wouldn't really be out any money if someone stole my wallet, I'd just need to make a few phone calls and get some new cards overnighted to me. For free. It's tremendously convenient, and to me, completely worthwhile.
It's amazing how quickly the world can change these days: it's an industry that's about a hundred years old that pretty thoroughly changed the world and has already made it to the "unpopular incumbent" stage.
Re: Square introduces monthly pricing
#89The next step for Square, in my opinion, is developing a reader for the EMV cards ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EMV ), which is hugely dominant in Europe - and also more secure. See a this useful Quora post, from 12 months ago: http://www.quora.com/How-does-Square-intend-to-translate-the... Going international, or making such a reader, opens up an enormous market and the potential is huge. I'm waiting, excited, as I…
iZettle would not get a lot of adoption in it's current form. For merchants the biggest issue around chip and pin cards is this: If the merchant takes a signature, then they are liable for loss incurred by bad transactions. Which simply means, very few merchant accept signatures and only in exceptional circumstances. So any EMV reader in Europe, to achieve adoption by merchants, will need to offer a PIN entry method.…
Thanks, that's a very important gotcha in current payment systems. Most interesting thinking of ways to work within that seemingly draconian framework!
Re: Square introduces monthly pricing
#90Square should automatically wave fees after collecting $275 per month.
That would be a pretty awesome thing to do from a customer service perspective. It would be like the phone companies charging you for the cheapest phone plan based on your usage for the month.
Ting does this. They're a virtual operator that runs on Sprint's network. https://ting.com/plans