T-Mobile announced recently that it will begin carrying the Square Credit Card Readers in select T-Mobile stores. While T-Mobile had already been offering the device in select 4G smartphone business bundles, the recent announcement made them the first carrier to offer the device in their retail stores.
The Square Credit Card Reader is a smartphone accessory available on the Apple iOS and Android platforms that plugs into the headphone jack of your device and allows you to accept mobile credit card payments anywhere, charging a 2.75% processing fee before depositing the funds into your bank account the following business day.
The introduction of accessories like Square and rival Intuit Card Reader (which is currently sold via deals with AT&T and Verizon) changes the game for many small businesses, allowing them to accept credit cards where they weren’t able to before, allowing a local landscaper for instance to accept your credit card payment for lawn care services while standing in your yard.
But pricing may be an issue that hinders the new T-Mobile partnership. Intuit’s GoPayment has a slightly lower swipe rate and a significantly lower swipe rate for users who plan to do high enough volume to warrant signing up for their $12.95 per month high volume plan.
Additionally, Intuit offers their GoPayment accessory for free when you sign up a new account, while the Square accessory retails for about ten dollars in most retail stores. Adding to the list of GoPayment’s advantages is its compatibility with America’s number one small business accounting software, QuickBooks – also made by Intuit.
But the much shorter list of GoPayment compatible devices compared to the list of Square compatible devices may help Square get an edge.
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