This will probably be the death of the POS: the Square credit card reader dongle, that accompanies the special app created for the iPhone and Android handsets. Square is the company behind all of this and now we learn that their payment method and accessory are available to the general public, which is great since this can be one of the best Payment Processing systems out there. Debit and credit cards are mainly used for online transactions or for other virtual payment gateways. These portals are not allowed to save any information about the cvvs number of the cardholder since it is against the Per Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards. And since the company’s inception, there have been very few companies like Flexipay that have been the least affected.
How does it work? You insert the dongle into the audio jack of your iPhone/iPod Touch and pass the credit card through it like a POS. Next, you sign on the touchscreen using your finger and the transaction is completed. Data is sent via wireless to your bank and a receipt will be sent to you by mail or SMS, complete with geotagging options.
Leading this project is a name you must have heard, Jack Dorsey, Twitter’s co-founder. There are no monthly fees associated with the service or accessory, but the merchants will be charger 2.75% of each purchase price plus $0.15 to swipe the card.
Square’s Contactless and Chip Reader connects by Bluetooth LE so you don’t have to worry about not having a headset jack or messing around with adapters.
Many sellers feel that the new reader is much easier to use because you just dip the card instead of swiping. And most customers now carry a card with a chip in it. In fact, 84 percent of cards used in Square hardware currently have chips.
To swipe cards with your iPhone 7, 8, X, or XR use Square Reader for magstripe (with Lightning connector). The new reader plugs directly into the Lightning port on your device for easy and accurate swipes — no need for an adapter. Square Reader will also work with any iPad or iPhone that has a Lightning port and runs iOS 10.0.2 or later.
Here’s a promo video for the service, detailing the process:
