I believe the new payment application SquareUp, which allows anyone to accept credit cards in person, is a game-changer in business.
I just bought a book using it from author Dom Songalla (pictured below) at a conference we both attended — it was simple yet powerful.
Author Dom Sogalla Shows Rob Kelly the SquareUp-Enabled iPhone
Dom simply popped his credit reader reader into the phone jack of his iPhone; and then swiped my credit card for $20.
A Square-Up Enabled iPhone
Here’s the receipt I received via email (note that it shows me the location of my purpose):
The whole thing really took just three steps:
- The author swiped my credit card on his iPhone
- I signed my signature with my finger on his iPhone screen
- He typed in my email and emailed me my receipt
And the beauty is that SquareUp does not require you (the seller) to have a merchant account to accept credit cards — and there appears to be just one fee (2.9% of the transaction amount).
Others, including PayPal’s new Bump iPhone App, are also getting in the market of exchanging money between phones.
I like SquareUp’s chances as much as anyone’s as it has smart folks like its co-founder Jack Dorsey (creator of Twitter) and Board member Gideon Yu (previous executive at Facebook, YouTube, Yahoo) behind it.
Click here for tweets from some SquareUp advisors.
And since SquareUp is still in beta, you’ll have to go to the bottom of SquareUp’s home page and give your email address to get in line to receive the card reader.
