Saturday, March 10th, 2012 at
9:59 pm
Square, Inc. manages more than $2 billion a year in credit card transactions made through mobile phones. Square, Inc. is a credit card-processing company co-founded by Twitter inventor Jack Dorsey. Square transactions primarily occur on a small plastic plug (see left picture), inserted into a smartphone’s headphone jack, through which people swipe credit cards. Watch this short video on Square to see how it works!
The Quarter Salon Gets Paid With Square from Square on Vimeo.
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It’s easy to set up your business account with Square. Just visit Squareup.com and complete the registration process. You are encouraged to fill out information about your business: business name, address, phone number,etc.; and you can upload your business logo if you have one. This information will be included on your customer’s receipt for payment. Once, you complete the registration, Square will mail you your Square headphone jack. Of course, you will also have to provide the routing number and account number for your business checking or savings account.
You will also need to download the applicable Square application for your smart phone. Square will send you a link to download this application. Or, you can find it at your application store. For example, I use an Android. So, I used the “Play Store” to download and install my application. It’s easy!
The rates are reasonable particularly if you consider the convenience and timeliness of payments. I used to only accept checks. It might take me a couple of days before I could get to the bank where I have my business account. And, as we all know, time is money. As you can see in this picture, there are no monthly fees or set-up costs. There is no limit to the number or amount of payment you can accept. The application is free. The Square headphone jack is free and there is no shipping cost for the headphone jack. Plus, you have access to the payment the next day.
Related Articles:
According to John Swartz, USA Today: Square has found a lucrative niche among small businesses and is becoming a go-to fixture for a variety of companies — ranging from those hawking quirky goods to vendors at local farmers’ markets. Even some Salvation Army bell ringers collect charitable donations via the Square Reader.
Read more about this new start-up company and its CEO in this New York Times article
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