Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Twitter Founder Goes Square

While Obama continues to finance and fiddle with old industry. (The CEO of General Motors has resigned), the real world continues to attempt growth in the few pockets that aren't regulated and bureaucratised by government.

NYT reports the latest high speed move where Obama isn't looking:
Jack Dorsey, who came up with the idea for Twitter and is now its chairman, has unveiled Square, his new start-up. The idea: anyone with a mobile phone can accept credit card payments.

Mr. Dorsey has been working on the idea for a while, and on Tuesday the company’s Web site went live. Square makes a small square device that plugs into any gadget with an audio input jack, including an iPhone or iPod Touch, and turns the device into a credit card machine.

Many small businesses cannot afford the steep fees that credit card companies charge. Square reportedly charges less, though it is not yet clear how much. The buyer signs the screen with a finger and gets receipts by text message or e-mail.

Square could be useful for people who run small businesses, like food carts or booths at art festivals and farmers’ markets, who would not otherwise be able to accept credit cards. Theoretically, it could even be a way for individuals to pay one another without exchanging cash or checks.

1 comment:

  1. Is this really a new idea? I thought this already existed all over Japan and a few other Asian countries.

    ReplyDelete