Square now in Japan

#1

Post by psawaya » Thu, May 23, 2013, 7:14 AM UTC

Square now in Japan
squareup.com

Re: Square now in Japan

#2

Post by thairu » Thu, May 23, 2013, 8:22 AM UTC

Great work!

Re: Square now in Japan

#3

Post by rtpg » Thu, May 23, 2013, 8:31 AM UTC

At the HN meetup in Tokyo just last week people were complaining about the lack of something like Square in Japan. I guess things will get better now.

Transforming your iPad/iPhone into a register is also pretty neat. I wonder if they'll look into putting an NFC reader in there and interface with all the IC cards here. Most people don't pay for their coffee by credit card.

Re: Square now in Japan

#4

Post by _frog » Thu, May 23, 2013, 8:34 AM UTC

So I take it that Japan doesn't have EMV chips in their bank cards yet? I'm curious to see how Square tackles that when they hopefully expand to Europe and Australia.

Re: Square now in Japan

#5

Post by pistoriusp » Thu, May 23, 2013, 8:37 AM UTC

I'm looking forward to having them launch in the UK! Does anyone here have access to the beta?

Re: Square now in Japan

#6

Post by lleims » Thu, May 23, 2013, 8:49 AM UTC

pistoriusp wrote: post #5

I'm looking forward to having them launch in the UK! Does anyone here have access to the beta?

What beta?

Re: Square now in Japan

#7

Post by samwillis » Thu, May 23, 2013, 8:51 AM UTC

pistoriusp wrote: post #5

I'm looking forward to having them launch in the UK! Does anyone here have access to the beta?

I don't think Square can come to the UK in their current form. The card reader, although could technically work, will not be allowed by the credit card companies here. Square would need to make a small chip and pin reader for phones, similar to what PayPal have done.

Are confusing Square with Stripe? If so I am in the beta and its brilliant. You can get in the beta by emailing them.

Re: Square now in Japan

#8

Post by cdavid » Thu, May 23, 2013, 8:52 AM UTC

_frog wrote: post #4

So I take it that Japan doesn't have EMV chips in their bank cards yet? I'm curious to see how Square tackles that when they hopefully expand to Europe and Australia.

Many don't, and basic debit accounts don't offer 'standard' cards (VISA, etc...). Japan also has a culture of using cash everywhere (I have seen people handling the equivalent of 1000s $ in cash numerous times), and it will be interesting to see what square can do there. Interesting challenges, and definitely something that needs improvements in Japan.

Re: Square now in Japan

#9

Post by iloveponies » Thu, May 23, 2013, 8:53 AM UTC

_frog wrote: post #4

So I take it that Japan doesn't have EMV chips in their bank cards yet? I'm curious to see how Square tackles that when they hopefully expand to Europe and Australia.

They've had standalone systems like Edy and other systems tied into retailers on their phones for years. Given that Japan is hugely a cash based society, I wonder if this will really take off.

Re: Square now in Japan

#10

Post by mathrawka » Thu, May 23, 2013, 9:04 AM UTC

cdavid wrote: post #8

_frog wrote: post #4

So I take it that Japan doesn't have EMV chips in their bank cards yet? I'm curious to see how Square tackles that when they hopefully expand to Europe and Australia.

Many don't, and basic debit accounts don't offer 'standard' cards (VISA, etc...). Japan also has a culture of using cash everywhere (I have seen people handling the equivalent of 1000s $ in cash numerous times), and it will be interesting to see what square can do there. Interesting challenges, and definitely something that needs improvements in Japan.

I remember one of my first experience with a Japanese ATM... I put an extra 0 at the end and man, was I surprised when all that cash just kept coming out.

I'd prefer to see Square be able to work with Suica, Pasmo, and all the other common ways that people actually pay for things here in Japan (besides cash of course)