As a small business owner, you need to ensure it is as easy as possible for your customers to pay for your offerings. Square, a credit-card processing service created for iPhones, iPads and Android-powered devices can help you fulfill this goal. But Square, created by Square, Inc., isn\u2019t free. It will cost you when you swipe a customer\u2019s credit card through the tiny card reader that attaches to your smart phone or tablet. The question, then, is a large one: Will the benefits of Square really worth the extra price you\u2019ll pay on transactions fueled by it?<\/p>\n
How it works<\/strong><\/p>\n Reviewers, such as one writing recently for USA Today, praise Square because of its ease of use. Small business owners simply insert the square-shaped Square Reader \u2014 which is amazingly small \u2014 into the audio jack on their iPhone, iPad or Android device. They can now swipe their customers\u2019 credit cards through the reader, starting the transaction. If a swipe does not work properly, Square users can manually enter their customers\u2019 credit-card numbers to close the transaction. Best of all? You can receive your Square Reader device for free. You can also download the app \u2014 Square Register \u2014 that powers the system for free. It\u2019s available in the App Store and Google Play store.<\/p>\n The Biggest Positive of Square<\/strong><\/p>\n Square has earned praise for its ease of use. Entrepreneur Magazine in a recent review declared that using the Square system is intuitive for even the least tech-savvy business owners. The system is a positive for consumers. No consumer wants to walk into a store only to find out that the merchant behind the counter can\u2019t accept credit cards. Now, instead of being forced to run to the ATM in the bank three doors down, these consumers can simply swipe their cards through the Square Reader to close a sale.<\/p>\n The Downside to Square<\/strong><\/p>\n There is one major drawback with Square: the cost that business owners must pay to use the service. Every time business owners swipe a credit card through the Square Reader, they\u2019ve got to pay 2.75 percent of the transaction to Square, Inc. Every time owners must manually type in credit-card numbers, they\u2019ll pay 3.5 percent to Square, Inc. Another potential drawback? In its review of the service, Entrepreneur Magazine said that the company should boost its customer service. Human-provided technical support was lacking, according to the magazine\u2019s review.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As a small business owner, you need to ensure it is as easy as possible for your customers to pay for your offerings. Square, a credit-card processing service created for iPhones, iPads and Android-powered devices can help you fulfill this goal. But Square, created by Square, Inc., isn\u2019t free. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-702","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-business-technology"],"yoast_head":"\n