Mobile Credit Card Square

Having just received my “innerSquare” kit from Square, I felt compelled to write about how their mobile credit card processing is incredibly cool. My experience with Square, Inc.’s software, card reader and service came directly from real-world use during the 2011 Iron Dog Race. 

What is it?
Square is a credit card processing service, software application and magnetic stripe reader for your iPhone or Android smart phone. You can sign up for Free, get the software for Free and they even send you the card reader for Free. So what’s the catch? Nothing really, just like your standard credit card processor they will take a cut of the action. Surprisingly, Square allows you to be non-committal (read: no monthly fees) for a very competitive rate. (Under 3% at the time of writing this article)

So what?
Obviously if you are running a brick and mortar operation with millions of transactions, this is probably not the very best tool for you. If you are a small business, like a screenprinter, street vendor, artist or something like the Iron Dog…you MUST check this out. Here’s a list of the key benefits from my perspective and experience:

1. Dead simple. During the Iron Dog Race we had five of the readers being used by volunteers who were given about 1 minute walkthroughs. Everyone was up and running in no time busy selling T-shirts, raffle tickets, etc. The user interface on the iPhone and Android phone is incredibly intuitive. On the iPad, it’s dead sexy…but that’s another story.

 

2. Works everywhere. For most of our events we were using GCI provided HTC Android phones which worked amazingly well, even out on the frozen ice of Big Lake. We were able to swipe and sell all day long without phone land lines or electricity…try that with your current credit card processor. With very few exceptions (like rural Alaska), we were always able to process credit cards in real-time, any time.

 

3. Fast, simple and easy payment. No contracts or harsh penalties, just incredibly easy credit card processing with payments going straight to your bank account. What’s not to love? The backend tools are pretty slick and can be exported for use in your accounting software. Slick. Did I mention, no paper receipts or imprint machines? Just valid, authorized payments… hallelujah!

 

4. Wow factor. People were probably just as impressed with the Square credit card processing experience as they were in buying something. The user experience is great for everyone involved, I cannot speak more highly of the attention to simplicity in this process. It’s just fun to use.

Using the Square
I won’t bore you with deep details on the steps, it’s really as simple – just swipe, sign and send a receipt. Watch the video, this is just one example of Square in the real world.

 
Get one.
Want a reader right now? If you’re interested in learning more about how this worked for the Iron Dog or just want to check it out in person, come by the Iron Dog office or shoot me a note. I’ve got 50 of them (when I published this article)…come and get one, and start selling, collecting and processing. You can also order one when you sign up at: squareup.com

Found this and you’re not in Alaska? Search for #innersquare on Twitter and find someone in your area that has the innerSquare kit, I’m sure they’ll be glad to share their experiences with you!

Disclaimer. I was not paid to write this, nor was I compensated* by Square to promote their product. I just think this thing rocks. *Okay, I did get one T-shirt that came in my innerSquare kit, but that’s not enough to get me writing about something.