Small Business Finance News
Square Rolls Out Affordable Mobile Payment Pricing Option For Small Businesses
Written by Tim Morral
Published: 8/27/2012
Mobile payment processing company gives small retailers and other businesses the option of moving away from troublesome "per swipe" fee structure.
Mobile credit card readers and portable payment options have expanded revenue opportunities for thousands of entrepreneurs. With a smartphone or tablet device, entrepreneurs have the ability to accept credit cards nearly anywhere -- at vendor booths, on the retail floor or even tableside in restaurants.
Similar to credit card plans, retailers and small businesses are required to pay a "per swipe" or per transaction fee for mobile payments. Since introducing the first mobile payment capturing system, Square has charged a 2.75% fee per swipe. Now Square is making mobile payment options more accessible to small businesses by offering flat-rate monthly pricing.
Rather than paying 2.75% per transactions, small companies (merchants who process up to $250,000 per year) can elect to pay a flat $275 per month with no additional fees or contracts. In many cases, this means that smaller merchants will actually pay a lower fee than larger competitors who don't qualify for the program.
"For 62 years, merchants have suffered complicated, expensive processing fees. Square is the first company to rethink electronic payment pricing with the merchant in mind. We are giving merchants affordable, predictable pricing," said Square CEO and co-founder Jack Dorsey. "With one monthly price, merchants know that the sales they've processed in a day is the same amount deposited in the bank."
Mobile credit card readers go beyond accepting Visa at your small business because they give your company the flexibility to move outside of traditional Point of Sale (POS) retailing. Services like Square also allow consumers to download an app and make payments via their mobile devices rather than using a credit card.
As the marketplace continues to inch toward a virtual, mobile-based payment environment, services like Square's new flat-rate pricing plan will inevitably help level the playing field for small businesses.
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