6 ms·

Can someone explain me what it means for customers? As far as NYC goes, each Starbucks accepts Visa, Master Card, Discovery and American Express (the card that

Can someone explain me what it means for customers? As far as NYC goes, each Starbucks accepts Visa, Master Card, Discovery and American Express (the card that plenty businesses hate). So what is the benefit for the customers?

salman89 14y ago
https://squareup.com/pay-with-square https://squareup.com/pay-with-square Smart phone based wallet, a la Google Wallet.
deleted 14y ago
[deleted]
ben1040 14y ago
One cool feature about the Square mobile app is you can set up geofenced "tabs" that automatically get opened if you get close enough to an establishment. So you keep your phone in your pocket, walk into Starbucks and order a drink as you do every morning. You tell them "put it on John's tab." You get a receipt in your email immediately thereafter, and never have to pull out your phone or wallet.
- euroclydon 14y ago
  Doesn't this now or won't it eventually dismiss with the credit card portion all together thus making the margin available to Square?
  - ben1040 14y ago
    Right now it just settles the charge to whatever credit card you have on file with Square. Maybe eventually Square will let you link it to a bank account or prepaid account and they'll keep the spread.
- mapster 14y ago
  I always look at my receipt upon purchase, even for a $7 latte and scone. This may require a leap of faith beyond most people's comfort zone, at least initially. But very promising.
  - jaredsohn 14y ago
    I don't know how the app works (it might already do some of this), but it would be nice if it would vibrate when you get charged and perhaps allow configuring it for a list of default purchases such that it vibrates twice if it is for a different than usual amount so you don't have to look at it.
    - spullara 14y ago
      The app has receipts and notifies you of stuff happening.
  - eshvk 14y ago
    Once square has linked your credit card is linked with your phone number and email, every time you make a transaction with that card, you get a text message/email receipt.
  - MBlume 14y ago
    I suspect you're typical-mind-fallacying.
- endeavor 14y ago
  The cashier is just going to look at me totally lost. Even in Silicon Valley, maybe one in 100 customers is going to use Square. I don't see the value for Starbucks customers either.
  - k-mcgrady 14y ago
    Why would they look at you lost? If Starbucks is implementing this they will have to train their staff in how to use it and paying by saying your name is one of the best features of the product. It will be great for Starbucks as I assume it is a much quicker way to checkout than processing a credit card and, at least where I'm from, Starbucks always has long lines.
  - avree 14y ago
    Tons of small businesses in San Francisco use Pay With Square already, and they don't have the rigorous employee training procedures that Starbucks has. I use Pay With Square all the time—at tiny bakeries, big coffee shops, and restaurants. No one will look at you lost. It's convenient because I don't need my wallet, I don't need to sign a receipt, and I don't need to do anything other than order and walk away.
  - lincolnq 14y ago
    It's a humanizing experience actually. Try it once or twice. My mind was blown the first time I paid with my name using Square, and since then I have explicitly sought out coffee shops which have it, because of the quality of the experience.
- bobsy 14y ago
  Question: Yesterday I saw you in Starbucks and heard you say "put it on John's tab". Today I see you are 2 behind me in the queue. What stops me from strolling up to the counter, big grin and saying... Put it on John's tab please? Wouldn't the proximity of your phone mean they would take the payment from you even though you haven't authorized it?
  - pazimzadeh 14y ago
    I'm pretty sure that a picture of the customer appears on the cashier's iPad app/register.
    - ben1040 14y ago
      Yep, you can't enable the tab feature without first taking a photo of yourself with the app.
    - nimrody 14y ago
      In that case, the cashier can easily charge you without your consent. Of course, you get the confirmation mail and can cancel the transaction but this is inconvenient. Making payments too easy makes it easier on the bad guys as well.
      - stbtrax 14y ago
        Yes, but the kinds of purchases this is used for is usually < $10. It's not really worth anyone's time to follow someone around to get a free coffee.
    - brk 14y ago
      Ah! So we're relying on the cashier to care deeply enough to do this validation. Remember the phase when credit cards were being issued with a picture of the card holders face on the front? And all the stories about the card with a picture of a petite Indian female being used by a large white male to ring up purchases? I like the concept of Square, and I'd like for this to work. But the cashier being a face-recognition gateway seems like a horrible idea.
- martinkallstrom 14y ago
  Is there any information available on how this works with iPhone? Does the app have to be running in order for the geo-fencing to work? Thankful for any information on this.
  - rendezvouscp 14y ago
    I don’t work for Square so I can’t talk about their specific implementation, but here’s how it should work: When a “tab” is set up, the app can register with iOS to receive notifications when a user enters the geofenced region. As usual, the app will be suspended when you close it (i.e. not running), but when iOS detects you’ve entered the region, it’ll move the app into the background so it can run temporarily. In the case of Square, they might get a better GPS fix on you and tell their servers that you’re actually really close to where you have a tab open.
- jeffgreco 14y ago
  Starbucks isn't supporting the geofencing: http://www.splatf.com/2012/08/starbucks-square-payments/ http://www.splatf.com/2012/08/starbucks-square-payments/
philip1209 14y ago
> "[. . . ] American Express (the card that plenty businesses hate) [ . . . ]" This is divergent, but I feel compelled to defend Amex here on the basis of quality of leads and consumer ethics, with the main contention being a higher processing fee for Amex relative to Visa and Mastercard. # Quality of leads "Amex cards account for approximately 24% of the total dollar volume of credit card transactions in the US, the highest of any card issuer" [1]. In general, merchants absorb credit card fees because they allow consumers to make purchases in more spur-of-the-moment situations. For example: * "I want this $4 coffee, but I don't have cash. Without a credit card, the purchase would not occur." * "I want this $1000 refrigerator, but I lack the cash to pay for it all at once. A credit card allows me to purchase it now and deal with the implications later as I pay for it over time." * "I want this $1000 refrigerator, but I don't normally carry that much cash on me, so making this impulse decision is enabled by my credit card." * "I want to buy a $400 lunch for our client, but I can't have direct access to my company's money." American Express may charge a higher percentage per transaction, but Amex users in general spend 2x-4x per transaction relative to other credit-based cards [2], thus in the end justifying their higher fee per transaction overall in the business that credit cards generate. This is due to both the demographics of consumers using Amex and the higher percentage of businesses using Amex. Thus, the lattermost two situations above are ostensibly inflated for Amex, therefore justifying a higher percentage fee. For smaller retailers, they may see that only 10% of their customers use Amex, but they may neglect to factor in the whole buying process of "I lose ~20% of revenue if I refuse Amex, because Amex users spend double per month, so the 50% upcharge over Visa/Mastercard is justified." Starbucks understands this, which is why they do not refuse an Amex for a $1 cookie - they understand that the guy purchasing $30 of coffee for the business meeting is likely doing so on a company Amex. So, while a retailer may be angered by the occasional Amex user who brings tighter margins, in the overall scope of things the quality of lead is sufficiently higher for Amex users to justify a higher percentage fee. Note: Here I use "quality" for a lead to represent frequency of purchase, per-purchase volume, and credit reliability. # Consumer Ethics I personally use an Amex charge card for my day-to-day transactions because of the revenue breakdown of Amex verus the other major cardholders. "Visa and MasterCard get about 20% of their revenues from merchant fees. American Express gets 65% of its revenues from merchant fees, because it relies less on interest payments (most American Express card holders don't carry a balance)." [3] This is an opportunity for me to 'vote' with my pocket book, and I think that the yearly cost of an Amex justifies the service. A fradulent transaction is easy to erase because American Express profits from me as a happy and successful consumer. Furthermore, with a charge card, I cannot dig myself into a pit of debt - if I cannot pay my transactions one month, I cannot continue charging the following month, thus hurting both me and American Express. The business model is profitable when I balance my finances and maintain good finances, whereas the other major card companies profit mainly when I start to fall into a pit of debt. I feel that this revenue model thus benefits me as a consumer, rather than intentionally setting me up for failure. -- Overall: As an entrepreneur building my own businesses, I accept Amex because I value the free market decisions of my consumers to use Amex, and in the overall scope of transactions, their educated decision behooves both of us. -- [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Express http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Express [2]http://www.wikinvest.com/stock/American_Express_Company_(AXP) http://www.wikinvest.com/stock/American_Express_Company_(AXP... [3] http://seekingalpha.com/article/20331-guide-to-credit-cards-how-credit-companies-make-money-from-you http://seekingalpha.com/article/20331-guide-to-credit-cards-...
chermanowicz 14y ago
Either I missed a post somewhere but I don't think any has answered your question... I'm also wondering what the benefit for customers will be....

salman89 14y ago

https://squareup.com/pay-with-square https://squareup.com/pay-with-square Smart phone based wallet, a la Google Wallet.

deleted 14y ago

[deleted]

ben1040 14y ago

One cool feature about the Square mobile app is you can set up geofenced "tabs" that automatically get opened if you get close enough to an establishment. So you keep your phone in your pocket, walk into Starbucks and order a drink as you do every morning. You tell them "put it on John's tab." You get a receipt in your email immediately thereafter, and never have to pull out your phone or wallet.

euroclydon 14y ago
Doesn't this now or won't it eventually dismiss with the credit card portion all together thus making the margin available to Square?
- ben1040 14y ago
  Right now it just settles the charge to whatever credit card you have on file with Square. Maybe eventually Square will let you link it to a bank account or prepaid account and they'll keep the spread.
mapster 14y ago
I always look at my receipt upon purchase, even for a $7 latte and scone. This may require a leap of faith beyond most people's comfort zone, at least initially. But very promising.
- jaredsohn 14y ago
  I don't know how the app works (it might already do some of this), but it would be nice if it would vibrate when you get charged and perhaps allow configuring it for a list of default purchases such that it vibrates twice if it is for a different than usual amount so you don't have to look at it.
  - spullara 14y ago
    The app has receipts and notifies you of stuff happening.
- eshvk 14y ago
  Once square has linked your credit card is linked with your phone number and email, every time you make a transaction with that card, you get a text message/email receipt.
- MBlume 14y ago
  I suspect you're typical-mind-fallacying.
endeavor 14y ago
The cashier is just going to look at me totally lost. Even in Silicon Valley, maybe one in 100 customers is going to use Square. I don't see the value for Starbucks customers either.
- k-mcgrady 14y ago
  Why would they look at you lost? If Starbucks is implementing this they will have to train their staff in how to use it and paying by saying your name is one of the best features of the product. It will be great for Starbucks as I assume it is a much quicker way to checkout than processing a credit card and, at least where I'm from, Starbucks always has long lines.
- avree 14y ago
  Tons of small businesses in San Francisco use Pay With Square already, and they don't have the rigorous employee training procedures that Starbucks has. I use Pay With Square all the time—at tiny bakeries, big coffee shops, and restaurants. No one will look at you lost. It's convenient because I don't need my wallet, I don't need to sign a receipt, and I don't need to do anything other than order and walk away.
- lincolnq 14y ago
  It's a humanizing experience actually. Try it once or twice. My mind was blown the first time I paid with my name using Square, and since then I have explicitly sought out coffee shops which have it, because of the quality of the experience.
bobsy 14y ago
Question: Yesterday I saw you in Starbucks and heard you say "put it on John's tab". Today I see you are 2 behind me in the queue. What stops me from strolling up to the counter, big grin and saying... Put it on John's tab please? Wouldn't the proximity of your phone mean they would take the payment from you even though you haven't authorized it?
- pazimzadeh 14y ago
  I'm pretty sure that a picture of the customer appears on the cashier's iPad app/register.
  - ben1040 14y ago
    Yep, you can't enable the tab feature without first taking a photo of yourself with the app.
  - nimrody 14y ago
    In that case, the cashier can easily charge you without your consent. Of course, you get the confirmation mail and can cancel the transaction but this is inconvenient. Making payments too easy makes it easier on the bad guys as well.
    - stbtrax 14y ago
      Yes, but the kinds of purchases this is used for is usually < $10. It's not really worth anyone's time to follow someone around to get a free coffee.
  - brk 14y ago
    Ah! So we're relying on the cashier to care deeply enough to do this validation. Remember the phase when credit cards were being issued with a picture of the card holders face on the front? And all the stories about the card with a picture of a petite Indian female being used by a large white male to ring up purchases? I like the concept of Square, and I'd like for this to work. But the cashier being a face-recognition gateway seems like a horrible idea.
martinkallstrom 14y ago
Is there any information available on how this works with iPhone? Does the app have to be running in order for the geo-fencing to work? Thankful for any information on this.
- rendezvouscp 14y ago
  I don’t work for Square so I can’t talk about their specific implementation, but here’s how it should work: When a “tab” is set up, the app can register with iOS to receive notifications when a user enters the geofenced region. As usual, the app will be suspended when you close it (i.e. not running), but when iOS detects you’ve entered the region, it’ll move the app into the background so it can run temporarily. In the case of Square, they might get a better GPS fix on you and tell their servers that you’re actually really close to where you have a tab open.
jeffgreco 14y ago
Starbucks isn't supporting the geofencing: http://www.splatf.com/2012/08/starbucks-square-payments/ http://www.splatf.com/2012/08/starbucks-square-payments/

philip1209 14y ago

> "[. . . ] American Express (the card that plenty businesses hate) [ . . . ]" This is divergent, but I feel compelled to defend Amex here on the basis of quality of leads and consumer ethics, with the main contention being a higher processing fee for Amex relative to Visa and Mastercard. # Quality of leads "Amex cards account for approximately 24% of the total dollar volume of credit card transactions in the US, the highest of any card issuer" [1]. In general, merchants absorb credit card fees because they allow consumers to make purchases in more spur-of-the-moment situations. For example: * "I want this $4 coffee, but I don't have cash. Without a credit card, the purchase would not occur." * "I want this $1000 refrigerator, but I lack the cash to pay for it all at once. A credit card allows me to purchase it now and deal with the implications later as I pay for it over time." * "I want this $1000 refrigerator, but I don't normally carry that much cash on me, so making this impulse decision is enabled by my credit card." * "I want to buy a $400 lunch for our client, but I can't have direct access to my company's money." American Express may charge a higher percentage per transaction, but Amex users in general spend 2x-4x per transaction relative to other credit-based cards [2], thus in the end justifying their higher fee per transaction overall in the business that credit cards generate. This is due to both the demographics of consumers using Amex and the higher percentage of businesses using Amex. Thus, the lattermost two situations above are ostensibly inflated for Amex, therefore justifying a higher percentage fee. For smaller retailers, they may see that only 10% of their customers use Amex, but they may neglect to factor in the whole buying process of "I lose ~20% of revenue if I refuse Amex, because Amex users spend double per month, so the 50% upcharge over Visa/Mastercard is justified." Starbucks understands this, which is why they do not refuse an Amex for a $1 cookie - they understand that the guy purchasing $30 of coffee for the business meeting is likely doing so on a company Amex. So, while a retailer may be angered by the occasional Amex user who brings tighter margins, in the overall scope of things the quality of lead is sufficiently higher for Amex users to justify a higher percentage fee. Note: Here I use "quality" for a lead to represent frequency of purchase, per-purchase volume, and credit reliability. # Consumer Ethics I personally use an Amex charge card for my day-to-day transactions because of the revenue breakdown of Amex verus the other major cardholders. "Visa and MasterCard get about 20% of their revenues from merchant fees. American Express gets 65% of its revenues from merchant fees, because it relies less on interest payments (most American Express card holders don't carry a balance)." [3] This is an opportunity for me to 'vote' with my pocket book, and I think that the yearly cost of an Amex justifies the service. A fradulent transaction is easy to erase because American Express profits from me as a happy and successful consumer. Furthermore, with a charge card, I cannot dig myself into a pit of debt - if I cannot pay my transactions one month, I cannot continue charging the following month, thus hurting both me and American Express. The business model is profitable when I balance my finances and maintain good finances, whereas the other major card companies profit mainly when I start to fall into a pit of debt. I feel that this revenue model thus benefits me as a consumer, rather than intentionally setting me up for failure. -- Overall: As an entrepreneur building my own businesses, I accept Amex because I value the free market decisions of my consumers to use Amex, and in the overall scope of transactions, their educated decision behooves both of us. -- [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Express http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Express [2]http://www.wikinvest.com/stock/American_Express_Company_(AXP) http://www.wikinvest.com/stock/American_Express_Company_(AXP... [3] http://seekingalpha.com/article/20331-guide-to-credit-cards-how-credit-companies-make-money-from-you http://seekingalpha.com/article/20331-guide-to-credit-cards-...

chermanowicz 14y ago

Either I missed a post somewhere but I don't think any has answered your question... I'm also wondering what the benefit for customers will be....