Plug and Play with the Square Credit-Card Reader

Whether you’re planning to sell logoed items at your Oshkosh booth later this month or taking a down payment on a turboprop, if you haven’t yet tried the sweet new Square credit-card reader, I suggest you check it out. It’s efficient, secure and cost effective. Both the reader and the application are free. There are no monthly fees or contracts. You simply pay a per-swipe fee of 2.75 percent. Add 15 cents for a manual-entry transaction.

I just returned from a national convention in Vegas where we premiered the book Risk Only Money for a friend (longtime aviation enthusiast and hospitality mogul Jack DeBoer). I used our new Square reader on both my iPhone and iPad. It worked beautifully (and would on your Android or iPod touch, too). It also acted as a conversation piece. Everyone commented on it.

Make the World Your Point of Sale

Square’s revolutionary mobile benefits work especially well for an industry on the move. Forget cumbersome hardware and standing in front of a register. Now you can handle transactions with a swipe while standing out on the tarmac during a static display or sharing lemonade in the shade. The pocket-sized Square plugs right into your phone’s audio jack. Customers sign directly on the screen and enjoy the convenience of either a text message or email receipt. You can download full reports anytime, anywhere.

You don’t even need a merchant account. Square has streamlined the account creation process like no other. In the time it takes to download the Square app, the user can fill out the four or so necessary questions to verify identification online, sign up to receive the free reader in 3-5 business days, and you are set.

Square accepts all the major US credit cards: American Express, Discover, MasterCard, Visa. International credit cards aren’t accepted yet, but I can’t imagine it being long before that changes.

I love my Square. You, no doubt, will love the ease of yours. To learn more, head to https://squareup.com.