Square, iZettle introduce new iPad apps

Square Inc. introduced new features for its free iPad, iPhone and Android POS solution May 23, 2011. The new Square Register application for iPad works like a cash register recording checkouts and tracking sales. Meanwhile, iZettle AB, a Stockholm firm started in 2010, said it will have a free iPhone application and mini chip card reader available to Sweden consumers by June.

Both devices have added communication features. Square additionally introduced a new application called Card Case that allows consumers to search local businesses, view menus, track and store digital receipts, and open digital tabs to make purchases on iPhones or Android devices.

Words from Square

Square is a mobile payment startup founded by the co-creator of Twitter, Jack Dorsey. Square technology – both the software and credit card reader – is free.

"Cash registers and credit card terminals are relics of an expensive, complicated, and impersonal commercial transaction system," Dorsey stated in a press release. "We revolutionized the payment industry with the Square card reader, which makes it possible for anyone to accept credit cards on their phone. Now with Square Register, we're reinventing point of sale with a beautiful, intuitive iPad app. Card Case goes beyond point of sale to transform the entire buyer-seller relationship."

Swedes have similar app

iZettle was introduced in late May. Its new mobile payment application works in much the same manner as the Square Register application.

iZettle allows small businesses and individuals to process credit cards with no startup costs and no fixed fees or hidden charges. iZettle tracks payments and records deposits. Information about the transaction can be uploaded to social network sites if the consumer chooses.

iZettle is Europay/MasterCard/Visa approved and complies with applicable Payment Card Industry data security standards, according the company. No sensitive data is stored on the iPhone, and all data is encrypted. If the consumer chooses to add an email address at the time of purchase, he or she may receive a receipt for the transaction.

What the apps do

Similarly, according to Square, Register enables businesses to manage sales using touch technology, check daily transactions, update pricing, automate checkout, generate digital receipts and maintain virtual storefronts.

Square Register and Card Case features include:

• A business directory for consumers
• Menus that allow businesses to advertise menus, prices, specials and other kinds of promotions on customer phones
• Tabs that dispense with the need for wallets by allowing merchants to verify customer identity, eliminating the need for cash or credit cards at checkout
• Environmentally friendly receipts that can be automatically generated and sent digitally to customers, who can then track and store their purchases

Technology impact

As the popularity of the iPhone, iPad, and Android grow, and the technology is better understood and more widely used by consumers, an intersection with the payments industry, particularly ISOs and merchant level salespeople (MLSs), is unavoidable.

Jerry Cibley, National Sales Trainer for United Bank Card Inc.'s Harbortouch division, isn't worried this will have a negative impact on the payments industry. "I am extremely excited about this technology and what's happening with the iPad, iPhone, Android applications," he said.

"Hand-held devices are not new. I can clearly remember selling a hand-held device years ago," he added. "We had a restaurant in the Northeast we were using as a testing place. We were doing then what the iPhone apps do today – taking orders at the table, paying at the table. The problem was with the battery life. The devices only went for about 45 minutes before they needed to be taken into the back and recharged. It was not very practical."

Cibley noted the use of mobile devices for payment purposes is already popular in Europe. "I think it will be another 36 months before it is really going to take off here," he said. "I am convinced the time is right for this new technology. I just returned from the National Restaurant Association convention, and there must have been 25 booths there featuring iPad, iPhone and Android applications. Three years from now 30 percent of them will be gone, and there will be just a few left. The technology is brilliant, though."

Cibley doesn't believe the mobile payment technology is a harbinger of doom for the feet on the street. "This will never stop ISOs or MLSs," he said. "You are always going to need somebody to sell the product. ISOs just have to mold and change as the industry changes. If they don't morph themselves, they will be left behind."

Whether you want to upgrade your POS offerings, find a payment gateway partner, bone up on fintech regs or PCI requirements, find an upcoming trade show, read about faster payments, or discover the latest innovations in merchant acquiring, The Green Sheet is the resource for you. Since 1983, we've helped empower and connect payments professionals, starting with the merchant level salespeople who bring tailored payment acceptance and digital commerce tools, along with a host of other business services to merchants across the globe. The Green Sheet Inc. is also a proud affiliate of Bankcard Life, a premier community that provides industry-leading training and resources for payment professionals.

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