Indie Ambassador

Biz: Square App: The wait should be worth it! w/ Brittni L.

A New Way of Doing Business

As businesses and consumers alike move further and further into a paperless world I can't help but cry, "Why can't independent musicians go, too?" Thankfully the team at Square heard my plea and developed an application to accept credit card payments from anyone, anywhere. My mind went straight to merch tables when thinking of uses for this app. Imagine never again having to say, "Sorry, cash only," at gigs. Who carries that ugly green paper around anymore anyway?

Requirements: iPhone, iPad, iTouch or Android phone, Square card reader, account with Squareup.com, a willingness to accept a small fee by Square for processing each card purchase.

Square makes it incredibly easy to get started using the app too. Once you register for a free account on their site they'll send you a card reader for your device (also for free!) and then you'll be ready to accept payments. With your account on squareup.com you can keep track of e-receipts of each transaction and organize them as you wish.

Freedom isn’t Free

Unfortunately the entire process is not completely without a price. Like any other credit card service, Square deducts a small fee from each transaction (for some reason the fee is less if a card is scanned in with the reader rather than punching the numbers in manually). If you're accepting large payments, and lots of them, this fee will be more apparent. This policy is no different from services like Paypal and Ebay, in fact Square promises that their fees are as low as functionally possible.

Bumps in the New Frontier Road

If this all sounds a little too good to be true, you might be right… at least for now. Square CEO Jack Dorsey (recognize the name? He’s the co-founder of Twitter) recently admitted on their site that the company may have jumped the gun on releasing the technology. Their first problem was underestimating the demand for the card readers, leaving many customers on a long waiting list to receive their card reader. Square has since worked with its manufacturers to increase production. The second problem might be a bit harder to solve than simple supply/demand principles. Currently, app users are not protected against accepting fraudulent purchases or from having to deal with chargebacks (when money is charged back to the customer due to a dispute in the purchase i.e. returns or claims of unauthorized payments).

Dorsey writes that both fraud and chargebacks are major concerns that need to be dealt with before the software can really take off. One semi-solution he mentions is the creation of transaction limits, but there are complaints that the limits are too low. Looking at it from an indie artist's perspective, limits to transactions wouldn’t be too detrimental to business. A CD doesn’t cost more than $15 and unless you’re Bon Jovi you won’t be selling t-shirts for over $25.

So What’s Next?

I don’t think we should give up on Square just yet. Yes, the idea may be ahead of its time, but only by about 9 months or so. The people at Square seem to be trying to fix any problems before they actually occur. The potential of this application is extraordinary and the fact that it was created with the arts and entertainment industry in mind should be enough to keep everyone on board. Let’s be patient with Square while they try to perfect their product and in the meantime download the free application. It won’t hurt to get familiar with the software now because if all goes well, Square will work out the kinks and every merch table at shows around the globe can begin accepting credit card payments.

Download Square for iPhone, iPad & iTouch Download Square for Android CEO Jack Dorsey's Letter Read

Have something to say about Square? Other uses for the application? Leave a comment below!