Square Mobile Payment App Takes On The Consumers

Paying with the cell phone just gets easier and easier with Paypal and other online payment apps. If you are not already doing this, you should.

I just made the first mobile purchase ever and suffice to say, it was seamless, took seconds and am already looking forward to purchasing something else online. The ease and convenience is, to say the least, addictive. At the end of the process, I was given a QR Code to save onto the mobile phone so that I can simply flash the QR Code in front of the scanner at the cinema in order to admit the three of us in.

On the same vein, I was very happy to read news about Square launching an even better way to pay on the phone. Ever since the discovery of QR Codes, mainly small businesses use it in an effort to promote their businesses and brands. By using QR Codes, it makes them look cooler than their competitors and it also ropes people in if they are shy of using credit cards, you see.

Square’s target was at first small businesses but they look ready to take on people on the other end….the consumers. Formerly, it was called the Card Case and after rebranding itself, it is now easy for consumers to pay with Square. The app is free to download on any mobile phone. Looks like Square is about to give Paypal a run for its money. Basically, Square aims to keep your personal information like credit card, address, and other information safe in the virtual wallet. What makes Square a little better than conventional Paypal is that it brings you a list of featured merchants and also a search tool which brings you merchants around your location. And if you find a bar, restaurant or retail outlet that you might want to visit (since you are already around the area), there is a map that will show you how to get there. I am thinking they are using Google Map for this.

Card Case was, frankly speaking, unheard of when it was launched May 2011 but that is because their main target market were small business owners. Now that their eyes are turned towards the consumers, people are noticing them more and are also downloading and using the code to pay at the checkout counter. Megan Quinn, a director for Square stated that they were happy to see that there is a 22% increase in profit this year. She also said that Square is not just about making payments (I suspect this is in reference to comparison to Paypal) because their aim is to create a whole ecosystem. An ecosystem of shopping, comparing and paying completely online and on the go.

The only thing about comparing Paypal and Square is this…Paypal is global, all thanks to the decades of experience, while Square is merely starting out (but on the right footing). Whether Square will take over Paypal…or not…that remains to be seen.