payment

At Square, an obsession with the 'magic' of hardware design

SAN FRANCISCO -- After eight years as director of engineering for iPhone, iPod, and iPad accessories at Apple, Jesse Dorogusker could have gone just about anywhere he wanted for his next gig.

He chose Square, the mobile payments company that, among other things, gives away its signature credit card reader for free.

By Dorogusker's own admission, that's a "terrible hardware business" model. So what inspired someone with a solid gold resume to leave a company that makes billions on hardware for a place that gives away his work for nothing?

For Dorogusker, it was the opportunity … Read more

Apple envisions digital wallet with perks for watching ads

Apple is eyeing yet another way to dabble in the mobile payments market.

Dubbed "Method and system for managing credits via a mobile device," the application published Thursday by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office envisions a system whereby mobile users would receive credits or coupons to be stored in their account. Acting as virtual currency, such credits could be used to help pay bills or buy items at a point of purchase.

Apple already offers a digital coupon system through its Passbook app. But the service highlighted in the patent application would take the concept a … Read more

NFC mobile payments disappoint while money transfers boom

Adoption of tap-and-pay technology on smartphones has been a disappointment and has slowed growth of the overall mobile-payments market. But bright spots still remain for companies looking to provide mobile money services to consumers around the world, according to a report from market research firm, Gartner.

In a report published Tuesday, Gartner said the value of transactions using a technology called Near Field Communications, or NFC, "has been reduced by more than 40 percent throughout the forecast period due to disappointing adoption of NFC technology in all markets in 2012 and the fact that some high-profile services, such as … Read more

Square follows PayPal to Japan for mobile payments

Mobile-payment-processing company Square has brought its operation to Japan.

The company announced the news on Thursday, saying that it will charge merchants 3.25 percent per swipe. As with its service in the U.S., all funds will be automatically deposited into the merchant's bank account on the next business day.

In order to bring Square to Japan, the company teamed up with Sumitomo Mitsui Card Corporation, a credit card processing firm in Japan. The terms of that partnership were not announced.

Square's entry into Japan comes about a year after PayPal brought its own offering, PayPal Here, … Read more

Boost Mobile wants to be its customers' digital wallet

LAS VEGAS -- Sprint Nextel's prepaid arm, Boost Mobile, is taking its own stab at the digital wallet.

The company on Tuesday unveiled its Boost Mobile Wallet program, which is an Android application that allows its prepaid customers to manage their funds, transfer funds, send money overseas, and pay bills.

While the heavy-hitters such as Google and Isis -- which is a joint venture between Verizon Wireless, AT&T, and T-Mobile -- are going after the high-end, tech-savvy user with their own digital wallets, Boost is going the opposite route. The company is instead targeting customers who tend … Read more

Google Checkout to check out

Google plans to shut down Google Checkout, its service for online payment processing, in six months, the company announced in a blog post Monday.

Even though Checkout was replaced by Wallet in 2011, it still has been an option for those merchants who are adamant about using the old service in their operations. But on November 20, that will come to an end. Google said by that time merchants who use Checkout will have two options: (1) move to another service, such as Google partners Braintree, Shopify, or Freshbooks, if they don't have their own payment processing, or (2) … Read more

PayPal takes aim at Square with free mobile payment processing

PayPal is taking a major leap into the payment-processing space: it's eliminating fees for businesses that sign up for its service.

The news was announced on Tuesday by PayPal president David Marcus, who said that any business that dumps its old point-of-sale (POS) services in favor of PayPal Here -- the company's mobile-payment-processing service -- or another POS offering that integrates PayPal's technology, it'll wave fees through the rest of the year.

"We will offer free credit, debit card, check, and of course PayPal processing for the remainder of the year to any qualifying U.… Read more

Square unveils Stand for Register merchants

SAN FRANCISCO--Aiming to help Square Register merchants who have had no standard hardware, Square today unveiled a stand meant to hold an iPad and make for an easy and common point-of-sale experience.

At a press event across the street from Square's office, the mobile payment company's CEO, Jack Dorsey, and Jesse Dorogusker, who leads the Square Register team, showed off Stand, its new hardware intended to give merchants a streamlined way, and a single aesthetic, to accept payments.

The problem, said Dorsey, is that merchants have had no single method to take payments using Square Register. Around the … Read more

Google Wallet chief Osama Bedier leaves company

The head of Google Wallet -- the Web giant's mobile payments initiative -- has left the company, Google confirmed Wednesday.

"We can confirm that Osama Bedier has decided to leave Google this year to pursue other opportunities," Google spokesman Nate Tyler said in a statement. "He's achieved a lot during his time here and we wish him all the best in his next endeavor. Payments are a big part of what people do every day, and we're committed to making them easier for everyone."

Bedier joined Google in 2011, leaving eBay's PayPal … Read more

Aiming for more retail deals, Square adds partnerships VP

For a mobile payments platform whose future success is tied to its ability to be accepted by as many retailers as possible, a company like Square has to have someone leading the charge toward such deals.

That's why Square -- the San Francisco startup founded by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey -- has just hired its first vice president of partnerships. It said today that it has tapped Alex Petrov, former PayPal vice president of retail marketing, for the job. Petrov also previously held the position of vice president of consumer brands at supermarket giant Safeway.

It will be Petrov'… Read more