Square has just announced a new offering which gives you all the hardware equipment you need to start taking payments on your iPhone and iPad. You can select bundles based on what you need and they'll be shipped directly to you. All you'll need to bring to the table is an iPhone and/or iPad.
Less than a month ago, a story broke about Apple buying AuthenTec, purveyors of mobile, digital security solutions including fingerprint authentication. While some Apple purchases, like Siri and Intrisity seem to suggest obvious uses, AuthenTec's portfolio and Apple's lack of any branded security beyond FairPlay DRM made intuiting this one a little less obvious. So what could it be?
PayAnywhere is not a new service. They have been around for a while, and process 10 billion dollars annually for hundreds of thousands of businesses already signed up. Now there are no shortage of options when it comes to processing payments on the go. Square has been around for a while, PayPal has introduced their services, and there are various others as well. While many have found comfort in the Square reader, the app itself is very basic and that can limit its appeal. Whether you are looking for a new service to test out, looking for something that offers added features, or just an app that looks better, you'll want to check out PayAnywhere.
In a recent interview, MasterCard's Ed McLaughlin said that he didn't know a handset manufacturer who wasn't working to integrate PayPass via NFC in their phones.
While rumors have been swirling for months that Apple was going to strap NFC (near field communications) to the iTunes cash register and boldly take iPhone 5 into the mobile payments future, Google is already there with the announcement last week of Google Wallet.
While most have assumed the iPhone 5 will include NFC technology for turning your iPhone into an eWallet, Japanese carrier Softbank has announced they'll be releasing their own NFC payment system for the iPhone 4 ahead of Apple in the form of a sticker you can apply to Apple's flagship smartphone. From Engadget:
Softbank has responded to complaints about the iPhone 4's NFC deficit by introducing a new "seal" for the back of Apple's latest and greatest.
