Square today announced a new version of its Square Stand point-of-sale system that allows businesses to easily accept in-person payments.
The second-generation Square Stand combines an iPad, the Square POS app, and built-in payment readers for contactless payments like Apple Pay and chip-enabled credit and debit cards. The original Square Stand required separate payment readers.
With the same swivel design as the original, the new Square Stand can easily be turned towards a customer at a checkout. There are several payment methods available, including tapping an iPhone or Apple Watch with Apple Pay, tapping a chip-enabled card, or inserting a chip-enabled card. For magnetic stripe payments that still require swiping, Square sells a magstripe reader that can plug into the Square Stand's audio jack.
The new Square Stand is available to order starting today for $149 in the United States, while orders begin in June in the UK. The stand is compatible with 10.2-inch and 10.5-inch iPad models, such as the ninth-generation iPad and the third-generation iPad Air. The iPad must be purchased separately, but the Square POS app is free to use.
Top Rated Comments
I just wanted to clarify, that only works with devices that have NFC, so it should work no problem iPhone to iPhone, but not iPhone to iPad. The iPad doesn't have the hardware (NFC) to support tap to pay. So for right now until Apple adds NFC to the iPad this hardware is necessary.
The bang-for-buck for this hardware, seems pretty good. While my initial concern about the inevitable: when the 10.2" iPad's physical dimensions changes to not fit with this hardware, it's quickly pretty much moot when you consider A) the relatively low cost of this Square hardware and B) that whatever iPad that does fit this hardware will likely perform Square's transactional functions for years (not like it needs to play the latest game at the highest frame rates). Anyway, if my Mac-powered company were in need of transactional navigation and management, I'd likely consider this setup.