After launching the Square Credit Card reader in Australia last month through their online site, Square has today announced that the reader is now available through retail stores.
The Square card reader allows small businesses and vendors to process Visa, Mastercard, AMEX or even debit card payments by swiping the card through their mobile dongle which attaches to a phone or tablet through the headphone jack in their phone or tablet. A flat 1.9% transaction fee is in place for transactions, making it easy to accommodate fees for small vendors.
The Square Reader was made available initially through the Square website for $19, but from today you can also purchase the Reader from over 490 Officeworks, Apple and Bunnings locations around the country.
Ben Pfisterer, Square Australian Country Manager said of the launch
As of today, small business owners across Australia have immediate access to Square Reader through our large partner network of Australia’s leading retail stores. Businesses shouldn’t have to wait weeks to be sent a card payment terminal, or spend valuable time on the phone registering for an account and completing long, arduous application forms. They shouldn’t have to be worried about their terminal going down and having to wait days for a replacement. With availability in 490 retail stores across Australia, Square is making it simpler for business owners to accept card payments, and significantly reducing the time that is traditionally taken to start accepting card payments.
The Reader is not enabled for Tap & Pay, though Square has launched a Chip & Pin compatible version in the US, but Square does have plans to launch it in Australia at some stage, though hasn’t committed to a launch time-frame, instead talking about getting the service up and running first.
If you’re a small business owner or even make money attending car boot sales and selling goods, you can now take credit or debit card payments with ease. To learn more about Square, check out their website to get started.
Now I can pay my little daughter very easily every time she makes her bed and washes the dishes.
A bit weird that Bunnings is selling them.
We must be their dumping ground for this dated tech. A tad late to the party …