Editor’s note: This article was first published in March 2011, and its figures, including the 2.75% plus 15 cents fee, the $10 million early funding, the $240 million valuation and the headphone-jack card reader, are from March 2011. Square was later renamed Block and its pricing has changed.
Jack Dorsey, founder and chairman of Twitter, has created Square, a service that lets you make payments from your mobile phone as easily as sending a tweet, and which over time could replace the need for bank credit cards.
For now, the idea is for smartphones to work as a credit card reader. To do this, the company has designed a reader that plugs into the phone’s headphone jack.
With Square, Jack Dorsey is launching a new business that aims to bring Twitter’s simplicity to the world of financial transactions, offering software that helps businesses keep track of billing, tax records and other financial data.
Square doesn’t require its customers to open an account, pay monthly fees or sign any contract. It simply charges the seller 2.75% plus 15 cents per transaction. It may not be the cheapest rate on the market right now, but it certainly aims to be the simplest.
Time magazine has already named Square one of the 50 best inventions of 2010, and it has caught the attention of Khosla Ventures, Marissa Mayer (Google’s vice president of search products and user experience) and investor Ron Conway (the “Godfather of Silicon Valley”), who put $10 million into launching the project.
Square is already valued at $240 million. Another success for Jack Dorsey.
Featured image: Chris Harrison from Grovetown, GA, USA, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
