Square Up?

[MindyRaeL]

Has anyone used this? Square-Up

It's a credit card reader/app for your Iphone/Android, etc. I've seen them for Iphone before, but this is the first one I've run across for Droid too. Seems like a really nifty thing for on-location shooters.
All the reviews look positive, but I'm still wary of anything that asks for my banking info. Anyone tried it yet?

[BuddhaPi]

I had heard that there were some problems with supply and demand of the readers, with a few months waiting period, I think they kind of caught up now, other issue for me would be there is no support number, only email and twitter, not to mention a "F" rating with BBB..

[Sweetlifephoto]

We use it all of the time. You set up an account on the web that links to the smart phone app. They process the transaction,deduct their credit card fees just alike any other merchant bank then deposit the funds into the account you have designated.

It works with or without the swipe reader. You can manually enter the credit card info and the cleint can use their fingernail or stylus to sign it on the touch screen. Let me know if you have any other questions.

[BK553]

I use it all the time. It's the cheapest way to accept credit cards on location. They take about 2% off the top, but you can charge your customer a 2% "convenience fee" if you want. No monthly fees, easy to use, instant funds. I recommend it.

[MindyRaeL]

I think I'm going to give it a try. I'm a little nervous about all the BBB complaints, but hopefully they're just new company "hiccups" and nothing more serious. Thanks for the input guys!

[Sweetlifephoto]

Originally Posted by BK553

but you can charge your customer a 2% "convenience fee" if you want.

You need to be very careful about this. Most credit card providers (other than Discover) specifically prohibit charging fees to use a credit card. They do allow you to provide a discount for cash customers. That is why at gas stations they sometimes provide a cash customer discount...

Here's what the originators have to say about passing credit card processing fees to customers.

VISA states that "you may not impose any surcharges on VISA transactions. You may, however, offer a discount for cash or another form of payment (e.g., proprietary card or gift certificate) provided that the offer is clearly disclosed to customers and the cash price is presented as a discount from the standard price charged for all other forms of payment"1

MasterCard states that "A Merchant must not directly or indirectly require any Cardholder to pay a surcharge or any part of any Merchant discount or any contemporaneous finance charge in connection with a Transaction. A Merchant may provide a discount to its customers for cash payments."2

Discover states that "You may assess a surcharge on a Card Sale conducted using a Credit Card provided that (i) the amount of the surcharge may not exceed the Merchant Fee payable by you to us for the Card Sale, and (ii) you assess surcharges on card sales conducted using other credit cards accepted by you."3

American Express states that "You must not accept the Card for costs or fees over the normal price of your goods or services (plus applicable taxes) or Charges that Cardmembers have not specifically approved."4

Every originator except for Discover forbids surcharging credit card sales, however, as MasterCard so clearly states, "A Merchant may provide a discount to its customers for cash payments." This statement holds the secret to passing credit card processing fees on to customers. The trick isn't charging customers more for using a credit card; it's charging them less for using cash.

[BK553]

Originally Posted by Sweetlifephoto

You need to be very careful about this. Most credit card providers (other than Discover) specifically prohibit charging fees to use a credit card. They do allow you to provide a discount for cash customers. That is why at gas stations they sometimes provide a cash customer discount...

Here's what the originators have to say about passing credit card processing fees to customers.

VISA states that "you may not impose any surcharges on VISA transactions. You may, however, offer a discount for cash or another form of payment (e.g., proprietary card or gift certificate) provided that the offer is clearly disclosed to customers and the cash price is presented as a discount from the standard price charged for all other forms of payment"1

MasterCard states that "A Merchant must not directly or indirectly require any Cardholder to pay a surcharge or any part of any Merchant discount or any contemporaneous finance charge in connection with a Transaction. A Merchant may provide a discount to its customers for cash payments."2

Discover states that "You may assess a surcharge on a Card Sale conducted using a Credit Card provided that (i) the amount of the surcharge may not exceed the Merchant Fee payable by you to us for the Card Sale, and (ii) you assess surcharges on card sales conducted using other credit cards accepted by you."3

American Express states that "You must not accept the Card for costs or fees over the normal price of your goods or services (plus applicable taxes) or Charges that Cardmembers have not specifically approved."4

Every originator except for Discover forbids surcharging credit card sales, however, as MasterCard so clearly states, "A Merchant may provide a discount to its customers for cash payments." This statement holds the secret to passing credit card processing fees on to customers. The trick isn't charging customers more for using a credit card; it's charging them less for using cash.

Thanks, that's a good point. I don't do it myself, and it looks like it's not a good idea.

[Sweetlifephoto]

Yeah I agree and I think it would be more of a pain to manage than it would be worth to have a "cash discount" price.

[RELum]

We used it for my wife's jewelry business at art fairs. It is great, when it works. Don't get me wrong, we like it. It's just that the readers are either delicate or finicky. We went through three of them in very short order. They didn't break, just stopped working. You could still manually enter the card number in the app, just makes things a little more slow going. Customers seemed to get a kick out of it and thought it was very cool. Only had a couple that were worried about using it. We printed out a few articles about it from places like Fortune & Money, as well as their terms and FAQ's so customers could check it out if they were skeptical.

All in all, I would definitely recommend it.

[PrototypeImagery]

I think it is a viable option for anyone who works street fairs, shows etc selling their work. I have one and love the payment options it opens up.