Square, the payments technology company launched by Twitter founder Jack Dorsey, has released its contactless card reader in Australia.
The round edged, bright white, Apple-esque tap-and-go reader connects via Bluetooth to a merchant’s smartphone or tablet to form an instant point-of-sale.
To make a payment, a customer either holds their near field communication-enabled card or device up to the reader, or inserts their chip card.
Despite Australian consumers’ enthusiasm for contactless payments Square first launched here with its smaller card reader in March, with which customers are required to swipe their card’s magnetic strip. The smaller reader connects to devices via a headphone jack, a feature absent from Apple’s latest iPhone 7.
Australia is the second global market outside of the USA to have access to Square's new reader, which also accepts payments from mobile wallets such as Apple Pay and Android Pay.
“We’re committed to bringing Australian business owners the best in payment innovation – whether it’s with our newest contactless and chip card reader, our original mobile chip card reader, or our online invoicing software Square Invoices.” said Square’s Australian country manager, Ben Pfisterer. “Our tools are helping to rapidly grow the market for card acceptance in one of the world’s most innovative and increasingly cashless economies.”
Based on Square research, up to 80 per cent of its customers in Australia had not accepted credit or debit cards before using Square, which the company said highlighted the failure of existing payment solutions to meet their business needs.
Join the CIO Australia group on LinkedIn. The group is open to CIOs, IT Directors, COOs, CTOs and senior IT managers.