Square Credit Card Reader Meant for Peer-to-Peer Transactions Not Real Merchants

In a previous blog, I wrote about some differences between the Square mobile credit card reader and ROAMpay Mobile credit card reader. Since then, ROAMdata published some interesting comparisons in their February 16, 2011 blog, “Who are Square’s Real Competition?” that I wanted to share with our readers.

The first comparison they make is that Square is meant more for peer-to-peer transactions. Anyone can sign up for a Square account. Have a friend that owes you money? Go ahead and sign up for Square. Your cashless friend can now pay you with their credit card.  However, if you are a real merchant processing hundreds of thousands of dollars you may be surprised to know that Square probably is not the best choice for you.

Square’s credit card reader is very cheap to make, but card security and read rates are sacrificed. This may not affect low volume processors (like peer to peer) but merchants processing large volumes will certainly feel the difference. Here are a few key differences.

1. Encryption (Card Security)-ROAM technology uses sound waves to digitize and encrypt card data before transmitting card data to the device. Card data remains encrypted until received by a PCI  certified payment server making skimming virtually impossible. Square’s application, lacking in processor and power circuits, rely’s on the phone’s application to digitize and encrypt card data. This places cardholder data out in the open for any other application (skimmers) to grab. Dangerous business practice for high volume merchants.

2. Square’s reliance on the phone’s application for capturing analog track data also presents numerous issues. There are greater read errors and less compatible devices. ROAMpay’s robust physical and electrical design and high compatibility rate make read rates much higher. A definite plus for high processing merchants.

3. ROAMpay device compatibility is the best in the industry. It works on all iOS, dozens of Android phones and tablets, most BlackBerry devices, as well as PC ‘s and netbooks. Square has faced numerous IP issues and are limited to a small amount of devices.

It should also be noted that ROAMpay is not a merchant services provider. It is merely a provider of technology and service to the mobile commerce community. PaymentMax is a ROAMpay preferred merchant services provider and can have you accepting credit card payments on your smartphone quickly and easily.

For more information about mobile credit card processing visit www.paymentmax.com.