Hi Jack!! Jilly here...wow, the square is just what I am looking for!! Now all I have to do is get my Jilly Willy Art website up and I will be ready to sell my painted soooo right sarongs!! Thanks Jack!!
Some points 1. The co-founder developed it as his company was too small to accept a $2000 credit card deal. Thus it's developed for small vendors and not to replace existing systems entirely 2. Would be interested to know if a similar version is in in production to account for countires that use chip & pin. 3. What's the difference in security by allowing a company to scan a card into a phone and into a till. The risk of cloning is the same. 4. Can see RFID payments taking over in larger stores.
I love this idea. There are plenty of places where this would be ideal. And for anyone who has ever hurt themselves with a knucklebuster (you know what those are) to emboss a receipt, this is a welcome and elegant alternative! YEAH!
I don't think it looks like it would be as fast as a traditional system for a coffee shop or restaurant, but it would be a great system for some delivery service or on the road type of store.
I hadn't thought of your points before -- and I totally agree. New and cool definitely does not mean better. But often little inventions like this are just the beginning of something better down the road. Think of the guy who invented the first steam engine car -- in the early staged he could have been made fun of similarly as the die-hard horse and carriage enthusiasts.
I think this should be one of those times where you look at something else for inspiration. I mean Japanese cellphones have been used as a credit card for a while. Its popular quick and efficient without that bulky thing sticking out of the phone. I mean Japanese cellphone providers have actually have teamed up with actual credit card companies to do this. He should take some ideas from them.
@yisacknayrabin Once you have a Square account and have made one transaction it'll remember your email address for future transactions. You could also ask the vendor to use your own Square to minimise the risk of fraud.
@sporitus Try asking the average client at a hot dog cart to pay with their mobile wallet. I think you'd get an awful lot of confused blinking. This system is great for mobile/low-volume businesses.
As I mention in my main comment (above) I think this concept is developed for smaller companies who can't afford to invest in the current system and all the equiptment that it entails. As you say it offers no real benefits to those who already have an existing CC system installed. Agree with your concerns on security in general, but think innovation in the field of payment should be encourged. Can really see RFID payments taking off in the next few years.
This is a perfect AR app possibility. Why don't they use a QR sticker on your card and set the database to email your receipts to you automatically. Then, you just flash the QR into ANY mobile camera, it beeps recognition and you walk away. This is just a worse way of doing something that's already a pain.
To hack this, you would need someone with a lot of computer knowledge - someone who knows how to write a program to access the hardware and duplicate the transferred data, without tripping any of the firewalls / alerts that the real program must use. For someone to "hack" your CC when you hand it to them requires 2 skills - reading and writing. Given the fact that you're handing them a CC for a purchase, they probably have both those skills and could easily steal your cc info.
I get all the good points and convenience, but who's going to trust it? That could be anybody's cellphone that's scanning (and potentially cloning) my credit cards.
Great idea! :D Now it takes 50 times longer to pay this little amount compared to cash... Just imagine two people in front of you pay this way at the store!
No you don't - you just make a bit of hardware that looks like a Square (i.e. a card skimmer) and write a simple app that asks for a PIN - no hacking involved. Then set up a stall outside selling bargains - you don't actually make any transactions, you just skim card data and pins - simple.....then you go and trash your victims cards/bank accounts - don't use this thing!!!!
Why don't just post our CC numbers on a public forum on the internet. That would be a lot safer than this idea. And in this day and age who do you think will want to proliferate the use of more credit systems? Poor invention.
Im sorry but I'm not gonna give my creditcard to some dude with iphone that can scan the black strip .. what if it stores all the info and can make duplicate card afterwards... and this is nothing new..I think the way people pay now is much faster... lol... stick with twitter man...
