Getting paid made easy

Today I had a chance to use Square for the first time. Square is a personal payment company that makes credit card billing accessible to the average person. Head over to www.squareup.com for details and to sign up for free.

Signing up initially was very simple and painless and it didn't take long at all to link my personal bank account with my Square account. Less than a week later I received my free Square credit card reader that works on both iPhone and Android. The final step was to find someone willing to give me money via their credit card.

That opportunity came tonight when I sold a personal cellular device to a customer. After I typed up a receipt and we both agreed to a price she handed me her credit card. Knowing that it was not store inventory and was in my personal possesion she still expected to have the ability to pay by card. For the average sales rep this would be impossible but thanks to Square our transaction went through without hesitation.

I am currently using an iPhone (for testing purposes only) so after plugging in the card reader to my phone I went to the Square app. The first thing that was asked was the amount which after I typed it in I was asked to swipe the customer's card. I quickly got an approved message and the customer signed her signature on my phone with her finger.

I was a little nervous to use the app at first since I was having to go through everything without any practice but it couldn't have been any easier. Gone are the days of sending customers to ATM's to retrieve cash.