UPDATED 09:49 EST / MARCH 04 2011

Mobile Payments Squared Away as Transactions Grow Exponentially

Square made public its goals for the year, and revealed that now is processing $1 million a day in credit card transactions over mobile phones. The numbers are pretty good considering that exactly one year  ago, Square was processing millions of dollars per week and signing up between 50,000 and 60,000 new users per month. In order to increase its market share, Square decided to cut its rates from 2.75 percent plus an additional 15 cents to a flat fee of 2.75 percent per transaction, in addition to the fact that the service is free to implement.

“In the short-term, we will sacrifice revenue, but we believe it is worth the cost because it is the right decision for users and by simplifying payments it will help grow the entire market.”

Considering that Square has developed, until now, apps for the iPad, iPhone and Android and most of its clients are small businesses, independent workers and merchants, we will witness augmentation in term of mobile payments. Add to this the fact that Apple and Android recently revised and introduced new price plans for in-app payment methods, they’ve triggered a massive mobile turnover in e-commerce.

Some important players have already expressed their trust in the future of e-wallets. Apple stated that their tablets and smartphones will be designed to support mobile payments, actually planning to add NFC chips to its iPhone 5 device. Google made public its intention of launching a mobile payment service later this year, after having moved towards this direction last year on the acquisition of Zetawire, a Canadian startup with a patent on a way to combine a phone-based wallet with a reward-and-loyalty system. Google Ventures, the company’s venture capital arm, also invested in Corduro, a closely held developer of mobile-payment solutions in Southlake, Tex.

But not everything comes down to the industry giants, as almost 800 carries gathered under the GSM Association to develop a standardized mobile-payments system based on Near Field Communications Technology. Orange, Vodafone, Telecom Italia, China Unicom and Softbank Mobile are only a few significant names that will work to ensure “worldwide interoperability, so users can use their phone to buy goods around the world, regardless of operator network or device type.”


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