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Did you build a POS based on Square? May I ask, why? Isn't there more robust options?

noduerme 3y ago
I'm not the person you're responding to, but I built POS on Square. Or more accurately, Square is the merchant processor that's integrated into a very large piece of operations software I wrote/manage for a regional retail chain. The simplest explanation is that the company was already using Square when the software was commissioned, and didn't see an advantage in changing processors. They already had terminals everywhere provided by Square. The software gives customers the ability to put their cards on file (stored by Square, when they make purchases through the online store) and gives the retail outlets the ability to charge those cards on file. Meaning most of the transactions are done through the Square API now, not the terminals. The terminals serve as a backup so they can take payment in person if our servers go down. In any case, I built all the software to talk to an in-house, isolated Payments API that I wrote, so that every part of our code that processes payments sends requests to our API, which handles all the back-and-forth with Square and distills the results. If it were necessary, I'd just change that API to talk to some other processor. But that wouldn't be a one-day job. As it is, it would take days or weeks to even arrange a banking relationship between the company and a different processor. I've argued for a backup to be built to a second processor, but the company hasn't wanted to deal with the cost or the hassle. They would also then need to have two separate terminals at each checkout register, and we would need to store customer cards on file with two separate processors. Even so, perhaps this week's events will change their mind. But I'm curious what you think would be a "more robust" option, for API access + physical terminal, since aren't all merchant processors prone to the same potential issues?
- ecommerceguy 3y ago
  Going direct with a gateway such as epx is an option..
  - noduerme 3y ago
    I used to write stores that connected directly to VeriSign. But even if I were advising a corporate customer from scratch, afaik they don't offer free terminals to the stores, which is important for physical retailers.
    - ecommerceguy 3y ago
      Did Square provide terminals gratis? If so, that's a great deal especially in a multiple station environment. I can get free Lane 3500s all day long but touch screens and scanners usually have an upfront load. Do you receive a commision from Square as compensation to build on their platform?

I'm not the person you're responding to, but I built POS on Square. Or more accurately, Square is the merchant processor that's integrated into a very large piece of operations software I wrote/manage for a regional retail chain. The simplest explanation is that the company was already using Square when the software was commissioned, and didn't see an advantage in changing processors. They already had terminals everywhere provided by Square. The software gives customers the ability to put their cards on file (stored by Square, when they make purchases through the online store) and gives the retail outlets the ability to charge those cards on file. Meaning most of the transactions are done through the Square API now, not the terminals. The terminals serve as a backup so they can take payment in person if our servers go down. In any case, I built all the software to talk to an in-house, isolated Payments API that I wrote, so that every part of our code that processes payments sends requests to our API, which handles all the back-and-forth with Square and distills the results. If it were necessary, I'd just change that API to talk to some other processor. But that wouldn't be a one-day job. As it is, it would take days or weeks to even arrange a banking relationship between the company and a different processor. I've argued for a backup to be built to a second processor, but the company hasn't wanted to deal with the cost or the hassle. They would also then need to have two separate terminals at each checkout register, and we would need to store customer cards on file with two separate processors. Even so, perhaps this week's events will change their mind. But I'm curious what you think would be a "more robust" option, for API access + physical terminal, since aren't all merchant processors prone to the same potential issues?

ecommerceguy 3y ago
Going direct with a gateway such as epx is an option..
- noduerme 3y ago
  I used to write stores that connected directly to VeriSign. But even if I were advising a corporate customer from scratch, afaik they don't offer free terminals to the stores, which is important for physical retailers.
  - ecommerceguy 3y ago
    Did Square provide terminals gratis? If so, that's a great deal especially in a multiple station environment. I can get free Lane 3500s all day long but touch screens and scanners usually have an upfront load. Do you receive a commision from Square as compensation to build on their platform?