Comments on: Keith Rabois: Why Square’s handcrafted approach to payments can win

By: Bernard Jones

Bernard Jones — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 19:54:06 +0000

If you have a business, please stay away from Square, Inc. for processing credit cards. They are the folks with the cute little ad showing how easy it is to just swipe a credit card with your iPhone or Android. What the ad does not say is they will hold up payment of funds to you for 30 days or more for no reason whatsoever. It is impossible to reach them by telephone. The email help system is a joke. These folks are crooks. Stay away.

By: Jonas Lamis

Jonas Lamis — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 18:06:04 +0000

Seems much more reasonable to me. If Square is able to capture 10% of that market ($220B) and has a 1% gross margin on transaction volume, it could see gross profit of several billion someday.

By: DeWayne A. Nelon

DeWayne A. Nelon — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 19:38:15 +0000

For an enterprise grade solution have a look at http://www.corduro.com

By: Daniel Lizio-Katzen

Daniel Lizio-Katzen — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 13:37:24 +0000

I’m curious about the quote “I believe if you look at the U.S. commerce department they estimate that sales for businesses with 20 employees or less is about $22 trillion a year.” which I find a little hard to believe given the estimated total US GDP for 2012 is $15.6 trillion (wikipedia link: http://dj.lk/KJXkjx), maybe it was $2.2 trillion?

By: Srinivas Vadhri

Srinivas Vadhri — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 04:54:40 +0000

They need to go beyond just “pay it johnson” or any other name – they need to combine with Merchant’s offers/coupons etc. I personally have a problem if it is just a pass phrase or unique string, that too uttered over the counter. Imagine this in a busy small business scenario like a restaurant .. how does one track or reconcile? the concept is cool .. but not practical on a day/day basis

By: charly

charly — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 21:36:47 +0000

Yes, but the experience is one where you don’t pull out the plastic if you are paying with square where the merchant accepts your payment with square. Your face and name confirmation is all that’s needed to make purchase complete.

By: Alex

Alex — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 20:50:33 +0000

I don’t think either of you actually know what the product “Pay with Square” is. You are both thinking of the Square card reader product. “Pay with Square” is payments through your mobile phone; no credit card necessary. Imagine going into Wal-Mart and telling them to put it on your tab and not even having to pull your wallet out. That is an experience that customers will demand.

By: Cherian Abraham

Cherian Abraham — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 19:19:06 +0000

Exactly. I was going to respond precisely to that comment. I agree with most of what Rabois said except this where it contradicted his previous statement on small business focus. I am sure Square is incented by the increase in basket size on bigger retailers where they will actually turn a profit compared to the small mom and pop shops. But the question “Why you won’t take Square” is mostly asked (and I am at fault) when either I am forced to transact with Cash, or the merchant complains about the broken card acceptance rules at their end. This is still mostly cab drivers (talked a Cincinnati Cabbie in to going to Square because he was paying over 5% for accepting CC) and other small merchants who are routinely abused by the current framework. But Square has a tough time if they were going to convince the top 100 retailers in to welcoming it as they have little upside. And for us consumers, there is little upside in advocating Square there, as we are already paying with plastic.

By: David

David — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 16:54:18 +0000

Why would a square customer demand to pay with Square as a big retail store? The experience is no different than if they were using any other card reader.