US-based financial services company Square has launched a brand new contactless payment and chip reader in Canada.
The company announced the new product at a panel discussion led by Square CEO and Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey. âOne word to really describe Square…is the word access,â said Dorsey, during the panel. âGiving people access to the economy in ways that they previously had not. Our purpose is to build tools to help people enter the economy.â
The product is a white square that can be connected to the companyâs Square Stand card reader. Customers will now be able to pay with their mobile devices, tap-enabled cards and chip-enabled cards.
Additionally, the company also announced that debit transactions â a much-requested feature â will be available in Canada. Customers will now be able to pay with their chip- and tap-enabled debit cards, as well as their credit cards.
In a roundtable discussion with media, Jesse Dorogusker â Squareâs vice president of hardware â confirmed that the companyâs credit card fee of 2.65 percent will not change. The company will also be waiving its $0.10 debit fee until the end of 2017. According to Dorsey, with the introduction of the new Square chip and contactless payment reader, the company is moving towards a âcomplete Square.â
Dorsey also briefly touched on the subject of bringing his companyâs two other major products, the Cash app and the Square Cash Card, to Canada.
While Dorsey said that he would like to see the Cash app and Cash Card in Canada, âitâs a matter of doing the work.â âWe would like to enable all of our products in every market,â said Dorsey. âItâs work, entering any market with a different product requires work on our side, itâs not just an okay from a partner. Connections that need to be made, code that needs to be written and hardware that needs to be tests â itâs work on both sides.â
The Square contactless payment and chip reader will be available through Squareâs website for $59 CAD. The company said that the product will be available âin weeksâ at retailers including Staples, Apple, London Drugs and Amazon.ca.
In April, Shopify released its own chip and POS reader as it sought to grab customers that may consider Square its first option.
This article was originally published on MobileSyrup