Local businesses find mobile money matters

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Published on 05/26/2011 - 3:37 pm

Written by By Kimberly Horg-Webb

New technology gaining favor with local business owners makes it so that whether at a restaurant or convention, fair or festival, they will never miss an opportunity to take their clients’ money.

About a year old now, the Square application enables mobile credit card transactions. It is available on Apple iOS and Google Android devices. One of Square’s developers is Jack Dorsey, cofounder of Twitter.

Café Corazón, a coffee roasting company in Fresno’s Tower District, started using Square for Android last year. Owner Leo Rios thinks it is great for businesses that are portable.

“You can take money in places like fairs and carnivals, so it is convenient,” he said. “The rate is more than competitive, if not better, than most credit card processing companies.”  

The Square app and card reader that plugs into the device’s headphone jack is free for iPhone, iPad and Android devices. It charges the user a percentage fee of the total transaction, which according to area businesses is a cheaper alternative to PayPal, which charges a swipe fee for every item.

Square charges 2.75% of the transaction total for a swiped card and 3.75% of the total for a manually entered card number in case the card is unreadable or someone takes a phone order.

According to Rios, there is a minimum swipe fee with other credit card processing programs. Many credit card processing companies also have a monthly statement fee, which Square does not. It also lets people download statements direct from their accounts via the Internet.  Square swipe

“This becomes a very big issue when I sit and start to add up fees and monthly charges that most credit card processing companies have,” he said.  

Irma L. Olguin Jr., a web developer and IT consultant for her consulting business Geekwise and co-owner of The Hashtag, a new 24-hour collaborative workspace in the Tower District, just started using Square six months ago for her business transactions. She agrees that in most cases, it is cheaper than similar applications.  

Olguin says the fee structure is different with Square. Customers pay a percentage of the transaction, but with PayPal, it depends on other factors. The main differences from using Square verses PayPal is being able to swipe a credit card right then and there. Square starts to transfer the money to a bank account within 24 hours, whereas with PayPal, people have to request that transfer manually.

 “It couldn't be easier to get up and running,” Olguin said. “I'm more than pleased with it.”

Square can be used to track cash payments and send email and SMS receipts as well.

Barry Falke, president and CEO of Rotary Storyland and Playland, began using Square a couple months ago after he heard positive feedback from Rios.

“Square provides a simple and cost effective method for credit card processing. The mobile nature of Square is what is most attractive,” Falke said.

Jeromie Garza and Rod Hansen, owners of The Painted Table Catering Co. in Fresno, use Square so much they sent 200 card readers to pass out to fellow business owners and clients. They opened the business two years ago, and started using Square last year. The owners are so pleased with the service they help endorse it at the invitation of Square.

“Square gave us a title as the ‘Inner Square’ because we are good customers,” Garza said. “I now give out readers to people I know that could use it.”

Garza said one of the features he likes most is how a client can sign his or her name right on his iPhone touch screen.

“We are private chefs, so if I am at someone’s home, a client can give me a deposit right then and there,” Garza said.

Garza said for added security, he can even take a picture of the client and link it with their credit card. This is especially good for him because the catering business is in the midst of expanding. It plans on renovating the former Daily Planet space in the Tower District, which it will cater for special events.

Rios had more positive feedback than negative, but according to him, there are a couple unfavorable factors including deposits not dispersed back in one transaction. For example, $100 could get deposited to the account over the course of four days in $25 dollar increments, so it is hard to tell from where he is getting the money. The only other downfall with the application is if the phone stopped working, he would be unable to take credit cards.

All four businesses agree the best thing about using Square is the “wow factor.” People are impressed when a business can handle its transaction on the spot.

“Incorporating new technology makes a great impression,” Rios said. “I am more than pleased to offer and use the Square solution at my business.”  

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Photo above: From left, Jeromie Garza and Rod C. Hansen of Painted Table Catering Co. demonstrate the Square app on an iPad. Valley businesses are catching onto the mobile credit card processing solution.

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This article ran in the May 20 print edition of The Business Journal. To receive all of our premium content, visit our subscription page at http://thebusinessjournal.com/subscriptions