CC reader for your phone? Square!

[Kit-4-Kat]

I saw this ad and thought "it's about time" because I'm frankly surprised it's taken THIS long to develop a credit card reader for personal use. Of course, it probably has some disadvantages & you boys are bound to be worried about leaving your wallets close to the S.O. in case she gets one. LOL

Check it out:

https://squareup.com

I would probably check it out if I had a bank account, but I haven't trusted that "institution" for a long time. Ha! Has to be a reason it's called something w/ that icky a connotation, right?

So... anyone have experience w/ these things? How would you boys feel about providers utilizing this payment option? I'd want to know how the charge is listed on your bill. Needs to be very generic & innocent, of course.

Back to my margarita...

[ztonk]

They made a splash at SXSW... lots of the pedicab drivers downtown now use them for payment, as well as people who are self employed, such as hair stylists. App for iPhone/iPad/Android is free, as is the physical reader. They get a percentage of each payment, like any other credit card processor.

I'd strongly advise against it for hobby use, though, especially for those with an s.o. Hard to deny that money trail...

z

[Kit-4-Kat]

Gotcha... Thx for the info.

[Rand Al'Thor]

Square has been around at least a year that I'm aware of. Quicken also offers a similar service.

Quite a few food trucks use them.

As for how the charges show up, I believe that can partly be controlled when you sign up for the service and register your business name with the service.

I would not use this payment method, but I guess some guys may not care.

[wangchung]

I have had a Square card reader for my iPhone/iPad for a while now. As the "merchant", you can define exactly what you want it to say on the payer's credit card bill.

Another alternative is called GoPayment: http://gopayment.com/

Square is free to sign up, so might be worth signing up for at least. I've used it a couple times just with friends who didn't have cash but owed me $20-50 or something. Since Square doesn't have a per-transaction fee (just a flat 2.75% - https://squareup.com/pricing), it's worth the 27 cent fee per ten dollars just to make sure I get my money now than wait to get it later.

[nuglet]

You can do the same thing with PayPal. You don't need a reader, or any equipment, just web access, by PC, MAC or any phone with web access. you enter the info manually, but that's no biggie. Been using it for 7 years with NO issues. You can send, OR receive $$.

[Whispers]

Originally Posted by nuglet

You can do the same thing with PayPal. You don't need a reader, or any equipment, just web access, by PC, MAC or any phone with web access. you enter the info manually, but that's no biggie. Been using it for 7 years with NO issues. You can send, OR receive $$.

PayPal, however, has a horrible reputation as to how they deal with charge backs and disputes and you can seldom win a dispute when you do not have a swipe of the card.... Any system that lets you swipe the card is a bit more secure.


There are also delays in moving money from Paypal to your bank if you need it in cash.

[nuglet]

They may have that rep, (although I've not heard that anymore than any other CC company) but at last count I've had several thousand transactions, never had a chargeback problem as a receiver or payee. I use it for one of my businesses as well, with NO COMPLAINTS.
Had a very few disputes, but always won when I did.
It takes 3 days to get my $ "transferred", but If I want in it my bank account quickly, I use my PayPal debit card and any atm (so far never paid a charge), get the cash immediately and put it in the bank.
Banking at Chase allows cash or check deposits at their atms and I can even deposit checks from anywhere using my Iphone/Chase app.

Whispers, I'm not saying ANY system is perfect, but I would recommend them as much as any money dealer/changer.
The Paypal card is accepted anywhere Visa/Mastercard is. And the security is great. I've had them call me overseas on vacation to verify that I was the one actually using the card when making odd or large charges. Used PayPal for many years at The Jungle with NO issues as a prepayment method for guests.
Did you personally have a problem with them or is this just heresay on your part?
All money changers/banks/CC companies are robber barons at best, and outright shark lenders as a norm, thieves at worst.
PS: I get 1.5% rebate on all items I buy with the card..

[bentley_banks]

I've personally thought about this before myself. Wondering if you guys would actually use it? Of course the name that it would show up as would be something simple, as spoken before, just basic and unobvious. I know some ladies who accept CC's but as far as with their phone- not so sure about that. It would be convenient from our end though! But I see it both ways...