Visa Accord May Increase Ubiquity for Mobile Payment Startup

Square, the tech startup founded by a former Twitter executive, recently received a small investment from Visa – worth just a few million dollars – that will likely lend it significant cachet as it looks to expand its presence in the mobile payment market, according to a report from the Los Angeles Times. The deal will also place a Visa executive on Square’s board of directors, and could lead the world’s largest payment network to push the company’s products to more businesses that currently do not accept credit cards.

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Though 90 percent of all consumers carry them, at present, about 27 million businesses across the U.S. do not accept credit cards, the report said. Having Visa promoting Square’s readers could begin to chip away at that number.

Square readers plug into the headphone jacks on iPhones, and, using an associated application, can accept credit card transactions for a low flat rate. In addition, these devices are available for free, or come with an account credit that completely refunds the purchase cost.

Image by Jorge Quinteros, via Flickr