It consists of a merchant tablet and a customer tablet, with a built-in swipe, chip, and tap reader. In October 2017, a standalone point-of-sale system, Square Register, was announced for small to medium-sized businesses.
In 2015, Square launched a bluetooth-connected reader that works for Android and iOS devices to accept chip and contactless payments through their platform. In June 2013, the firm unveiled Square Stand, which turns the Apple iPad into a more complete point-of-sale system. Square Stand at a coffee shop turned around for the customer to choose a tipping option In August 2018, Square released a version of its magstripe reader with a Lightning connector, allowing it to be used on iPhones without a headphone jack. In June 2015, Apple announced Square would release a new Reader capable of also accepting Apple Pay and other contactless payments. In July 2014, ahead of the October 2015 EMV liability shift, the firm announced a card reader that would accept chip cards and contactless cards to supplement the standard Reader's support of traditional magnetic stripe card transactions. The current technology is Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard ( PCI) compliant and Verisign certified. Square introduced strong encryption on its devices, and neither card numbers, nor magnetic stripe data, nor security codes are stored on Square client devices. Dorsey called VeriFone's claims "neither fair nor accurate", noting that all card data can also be compromised by visually examining the card and that even if there were a compromise, card issuers offered fraud protection. VeriFone posted a demonstration video and sample skimming app to its web site. In April 2012, rival payment company Verifone claimed that the Square system at the time was insecure and that a reasonably skilled programmer could write a replacement app which could use the Square device to skim a credit card and return its details, because of the lack of encryption. The original version consisted of a simple read head directly wired to a 3.5 mm audio jack, through which unencrypted, analog card information was fed to smartphones for amplification and digitization. It accepts credit card payments by connecting to a mobile device's audio jack. The Square Reader was the firm's first product. In 2010, the Square device communicated with the Square app through the phone's audio jack. Jay-Z, as well as other artists who currently own stock in Tidal will remain stakeholders. Square will pay $297 million in cash and stock for Tidal, with Jay-Z joining the company's board of directors. On March 2, 2021, Square reached an agreement to acquire majority ownership in Tidal. The company purchased an additional $170 million worth of bitcoin in February 2021, bringing Square's total holdings to almost $500 million in Bitcoin. In October 2020, Square put approximately 1% of their total assets ($50 million) in Bitcoin, now worth over $220 million, citing Bitcoin's "potential to be a more ubiquitous currency in the future" as their main reasoning. The name "Square" derives from the company's square-shaped card readers. Ĭo-founders Dorsey-who also co-founded Twitter-and McKelvey began developing the company out of a small office in St. The original inspiration for Square occurred to Jack Dorsey in 2009 when Jim McKelvey (a friend of Dorsey) was unable to complete a $2,000 sale of his glass faucets and fittings because he could not accept credit cards.