Square Up

This is my iPhone's newest playmate--the Square.  I have recently published an article in the SAQA Journal about my experience with a smartphone app called GoPayment.  It is a credit card processor that makes your phone a terminal.  I knew about the $20 a month charge for GoPayment, but missed the additional $20 in minimum fees, so I had to quickly suspend my connection.  


Then a couple of weeks ago a friend told me about Square Up.  It is also makes your smartphone a credit card machine, but this one is free!  The only fees are a transaction fee of $.15 and a percentage fee based if the card holder is present or not--2.5%-3.5%.  Not the cheapest, but certainly not the the most expensive fees I've seen either.


Its intended user is personal and low-volume small business users.  The story around how it got started was the guy that invented it was always getting stuck with the bill at restaurants with his fellow diners saying they would square up with him later.  So, he invented a tool where it was cost-effective for people to square up with cashless people right then and there.


One of the reasons it is for a low volume business is there are currently limits on the amount of money you can get back--$1000 per week.  If you go over that, you have to wait 30 days to get your money.  They are still working out the kinks to avoid fraudulent use of the device.


But for my art quilt business, it seems like the perfect match.  It is available for the casual studio visitor as well as major open studio events like the one planned for December 11, 2010 from noon to 8 pm.