Updated. See below.
Square is a new, modern way for business owners to accept credit cards. Long before I started this website, I was a tech reporter for another site I used to run and spoke to Square CEO (and also co-founder of Twitter) at length about this platform. It’s pretty innovative, and for a bitcoin enthusiast, it’s seemingly been missing one thing: bitcoin integration.
According to an article published earlier this month by CBC News, that could very well be in the works.
Speaking at length on the topic of Apple Pay — Apple’s newly-announced payments system that makes use of near-field communications (NFC) — Dorsey revealed that his company is working on a register that will accommodate Apple Pay. And something else.
[blockquote style=”2″]We’re building a register so that sellers can accept a credit card, so they can accept cash, so they can accept a cheque, so they can accept Bitcoin and so they can accept any form of payment that comes across the counter including future ones and burgeoning ones like Apple Pay.[/blockquote]
Square already has a kind-of-sort-of register system that requires users to have an iPad and custom stand with built-in card reader, but what Dorsey speaks of sounds like an all-in-one system, with obvious NFC capabilities.
What it means for business owners
So, what could an eventual bitcoin integration into Square’s register mean? Well, for starters, it would make it a whole lot easier for Square users (and there’s many) to accept the digital currency.
And if it’s easier for a merchant to accept bitcoin, more users could be inclined to actually use bitcoin, and that’s certainly a great thing for this growing digital economy.
But quiet honestly, if this actually happens, we wouldn’t be surprised in the least bit. Square has already shown their interest in bitcoin. back in March, it was announced that Square Market — Square’s online marketplace — had integrated bitcoin acceptance.
It would only seem to make sense that the integration would make its way to Square’s core product.
I’ve reached out to the Square team to try and get more information on Dorsey’s statement. When and if I receive a response, I’ll update you accordingly on Facebook or Twitter, and here, of course.
Update: I received the following from a Square spokesperson:
[blockquote style=”2″]I’ll just use this as an opportunity to reiterate our belief that Square sellers should never have to miss out on a sale; they should be able to accept any form of payment. Consumers are looking for fast, easy ways to find everything from a local service to unique goods across the country.[/blockquote]
The spokesperson added that the company does not have anything additional to add to Dorsey’s statement at this time.
[textmarker color=”C24000″]Hat tip[/textmarker] BankInnovation.net