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Square adds customer loyalty and printable receipts to the mobile payment mix
In case you haven't been paying attention, Square, the company that allows vendors to accept payments from various mobile devices, is starting to become a big deal. Now reporting days with over $11 million in transactions, the kids in San Francisco are looking to solve the pains of small business owners while driving repeat usage with a new opt-in customer loyalty system. Coming in the form of a software update, version 2.2 will empower merchants to track repeat visitors and offer sweet incentives to their regulars. For consumers, you'll be capable of seeing these discounts from within the Card Case app, along with letting your awesome presence be known to the shopkeeper -- so, don't be surprised when some owners come grovelin' at your feet. Not to become too futuristic, Square is also going old school with new features such as wireless control of cash drawers and receipt printing. After all, it's hard to look to the future without knowing from where you came.
Square updates Card Case, enables hands-free payment on the iPhone
Those of you living in a city graced by Square's Card Case have been gleefully opening tabs and making plastic-free payments at select merchants since May. Starting today, iPhone users will now save precious seconds of shopping time as opening tabs has been automated -- as soon as you're close enough to designated establishments, tabs open themselves courtesy of new geo-fencing APIs exposed in iOS 5. For those who are unfamiliar, the previous iPhone and Android apps required users to manually open those tabs from within the vicinity of a Square-approved merchant. After that, users complete purchases as before by simply confirming their name to a store clerk. That's one more step in society's never-ending quest for frictionless payments, but those with an evil twin or a stalking doppelgänger might want to think twice before joining the Square revolution.
Square Card Case now available
Square has released their Square Card Case app today, which allows anyone to open up a tab at a local merchant and pay without having to swipe their credit card. The Square Card Case works by allowing users to enter their credit card details into their Square account. Once at a local merchant who uses the Square Register app, users can start a tab. When the tab is created, the user's name will appear on the merchant's Square device. When the user is ready to check out, the merchant simply touches the user's name on the Square Register app where the transactions are tallied and paid for using the Card Case user's credit card on file. Upon completion of a transaction, a digital receipt is sent to the email address on file. A big plus of using Square Card Case is the ability to pay at local merchants right from your iPhone. However, right now, the Card Case app is only useful if you live in New York City, San Francisco, Washington D.C., Los Angeles or St. Louis. But as more merchants start using Square, the Card Case app is sure to catch on. Square Credit Card users don't have to worry about any extra fees on their end either. Like using a regular credit card, Square charges the merchant per transaction. Square today also updated their Square credit card reader app. The update offers improved transaction speeds, no signature required for transactions $25 or less and the ability to enter $0.00 transactions (useful for when the merchant wants to keep track of items, but doesn't charge for them -- like a free bottled water when you buy a hotdog). The Square Card Case app and the Square credit card reader app are free downloads in the App Store.
Square Register and Card Case hands-on
It looks like Square's little headphone jack-connected credit card reader has some company. The mobile payment startup introduced two new additions to its unique stable of payment options in San Francisco this morning that do away with credit cards, paper receipts, and even the bantam reader itself (to some degree). First up is the Square Register, an app that allows merchants to accept payments by way of the card reader or through a card-less (no, it's not NFC) tab -- like, "put it on my tab" -- system, and uses Google-style analytics to keep track of payments, receipts, and trends. The second announcement, the Square Card Case, is a virtual wallet that holds a series of "cards," each relating to a participating outlet, that let you put your purchases on the aforementioned tab. Each shop has its own virtual credit card, and enables shoppers to make and track purchases with a single click of a button. We got a chance to give the setup a try, and it's just about as simple as Square would have you believe. To get started, you make a regular, Square-enabled purchase at a participating store, at which point a text-message receipt is sent to your phone that prompts you to install Card Case -- we skipped this step, as this was just a demo. Once set up, we were introduced to the Card Case, holding cards for the participating stores -- only 50 spots in five cities, for now -- and an "Explore Places" button that offers access to a directory of participating outlets. We selected a nearby cupcake stand, clicked "open tab" and picked our poison: a miniature red velvet cupcake, in this case. The merchant picked our name from a list of open tabs, charged the tiny treat to our card, and a receipt was promptly pushed our way. After the transaction was complete, we went back to the cupcake card in the Card Case, and there was the receipt. All in all it was a painless process, but, then, so is whipping out a real wallet to make a purchase. The new Square setup is available now at 50 different establishments in New York, LA, Saint Louis, San Francisco, and DC, and the company says it will curate the list of participating stores, much like Apple does apps.
