Square Comes to Canada
♬ Everyone’s a winner, baby, that’s the truth (yes, the truth) ..♬
Lyrics and Music by Errol Brown and Tony Wilson, recorded by Hot Chocolate.
Back in January 2011 I blogged about the new payment service available in the USA called Square. Unfortunately at that time it was only available in the States. Well, as of Monday Oct 29, 2012 that has changed. Now it is available in Canada.
If you have an iPhone or Android smart phone, you can install the Canadian Square register application and receive the credit card reader dongle that plugs into your mobile device and allows you to swipe a credit card and receive payment in 1-2 business days.
This is a payment system that can help many solo and small firms. For a fee of 2.75% of the transaction (or a monthly flat fee of $275), you can receive payment by way of VISA or MasterCard credit cards. No monthly stand-by fees. No contract. No rental fee for the terminal. Straightforward pricing and cost disclosure. The service allows you to process payments anywhere you can get cell service.
There is much more to Square such as as sales summaries, a Square Directory and business analytics. But really, for most solos and smaller firms in Canada, the access to lower-cost credit card processing is what will make this a winner.
I use them in the US and they are great, but will they honestly satisfy your trust/accounting rules? These rules seem to keep law stuck in the last century.
Stuart
I am advocating using them for payment of accounts. Square only facilitates the use of credit cards. You still have to comply with the trust accounting rules in each Province (which may or may not allow for trust retainers by credit card).