
Exploring new market
Square has begun preparations to launch its services in Australia according to reports in the space.
Square provides a credit card reader for the iPhone, iPad, and Android devices, allowing consumers to accept credit cards while on-the-go. The Square Card Reader plugs into the headphone jack of smartphone or tablets and enables individuals and businesses to begin accepting payments. The Square Register application for the iPad serves as a point of sale system for businesses to accept payments, track inventory, share menu and location information as well as provide discounts and rewards.
Local retailers and merchants in Australia will soon be able to use the mobile payments platform to accept payments on the go. The news is very significant considering the Reserve Bank of Australia’s plans to build a new inter-bank hub, aimed at making innovation in payments more feasible. Square’s arrival in the market will cause considerable waves and disruption in the space
Square’s San Francisco-based director of product communications and marketing Khobi Brooklyn declined to comment on when the company will launch in Australia, saying she was not yet in a position to confirm any more than that Australia was “a market the company is looking in to.”
“We continue to look into expanding our presence around the world. Australia’s focus on growing its local economy and its appreciation for technology makes it a compelling market, however we have nothing further to announce at this time,” Ms Brooklyn said.
Whitepapers
Related reading
Central banks best suited to issue digital currencies
By Aaran Fronda A recent report by the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum (OMFIF) said that central banks rather than private ... read more
Instant payments: innovations inbound for corporates
In 2020, instant payments look set to continue their current trajectory to become the biggest trend in payments. While these schemes already offer numerous benefits to corporates, leveraging innovations such as APIs and request to pay will go some way to unlocking their full potential, argues Michael Knetsch
Obstacles exist for banks to meet ECB’s instant payments goal
The cost of joining instant payment platforms will be one of many hurdles banks and payment services providers must overcome to meet ... read more
Banks must be aware of “biases” in data used to train ML models
Financial institutions need to be conscious of biases in the historical data that is being used to train machine learning (ML) models, ... read more