3 ms·
The problem is, that's really a different use case/value proposition than Square has in the US. Square is a godsend for small businesses there. Square's all ov
by msbarnett 14y ago
The problem is, that's really a different use case/value proposition than Square has in the US.
Square is a godsend for small businesses there. Square's all over Portland, for instance, not just at yard sales and craft faires but in real businesses because it's an absolutely disruptive form of payment that lets them avoid some onerous fees and setup costs, and it lets them accept debit because debit piggybacks on the credit system in the US.
But it's pretty crippled for that here in Canada. I know several small business, including my wife's, who were dying for Square to come here, because getting set up with a proper payment terminal in Canada is obscenely expensive for a small business.
But there's absolutely no way that they could use this as offered, with zero debit support, ubiquitous customer demand for debit usage, and no support for chip-reading in an environment where chip usage will be mandatory in 2 years and in which not using a chip already causes credit card transactions to be declined as 'suspicious' at a fairly high rate.
- mcmatterson 14y agoI have to agree. I used Square in the US and loved it; since coming back to Canada I've been singing its praises to anyone who'll listen. However, now that it's launched and we've had time to think through what it looks like on the ground, these all look like pretty serious limitations to its widespread applicability in Canada. Although it's still useful for my needs (the odd Craigslist purchase, craft fairs, pop-up stores in the neighbourhood), I can't see it being as disruptive here as it is in the US given these limitations.