May 16, 2013

Square’s latest innovation; iPad credit card reader that’s set to replace mundane cash registers

by Sayan Chakravarty

Square Inc., a San Francisco based company that builds apps and hardware for mobile payment and merchant service aggregation, has come up with another credit card reader that uses iPad for functioning. This glossy looking reader doubles up as an iPad stand and is bespoke for high-volume small businesses like eateries to function as a point-of-sale system. Before this, Square had put a similar device in the 30 NY cabs, but it needed Square app to function. The Square stand will function as a proper cash register; an electronic cash drawer, barcode reader and receipt printer can be directly attached to it with the help of built in USB ports.


Square Stand is much faster than its predecessor, Square Zero, though it was extremely small and cost almost nothing but it was painstakingly slow. The square stand has been given two magnetic strip readers for processing the card information faster and with its glossy white finish it looks classy, almost as if Apple themselves are manufacturing it. The price has been pegged at $299, but companies like Starbucks already backing Square Inc and reportedly planning to invest $25 million into the company, who knows we might find one of these at our nearest Starbucks outlet swiping credit cards soon.

[Via – Slate]