iPhone Credit Card Payment Launches In Beta: More Phone Platforms To Come?

 

iphone-squareThat was quick: in mid-September, Twitter founder Jack Dorsey told the St. Louis Riverfront Times that he was launching a new startup. (h/t Mashable)

Flash forward to two-and-a-half months later: Square, a service that allows users to make credit card payments using their iPhones, was rolled out today. And its creators plan to develop it for more phones in the future.

While the service has been billed as an “iPhone payment system,” according to Square’s website, the service works via a card scanner inserted in “any device with an audio input jack, including your mobile phone,” which is synced up with software on the phone. According to Square, Inc.’s Twitter account, “we’re just getting started with the iPhone platform.” One presumes that other smartphones like the Blackberry would be easier to develop for than dumber, older phones, but this sounds like a broad and ambitious mandate for further down the road.

TechCrunch has a video of Square in action:


According to Square Inc.’s Twitter account, the team is starting out with a “limited beta;” interested beta testers can sign up by sending an email to betarequest@squareup.com.

(h/t Ash Kalb)

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!

Tags: