Mobile payments service startup Square recently launched its services in Canada, marking its first expansion outside of the United States. After only a few weeks of the announcement, the San Francisco based firm is creating new retail partnerships across Canada to help expand its business. Square’s mobile card reader which attaches to a smartphone or iPad is already on the shelves of over 250 stores in the country. This includes big name retailers like Apple, Best Buy, and Futureshop. For now the Square Card Reader is selling for $9.95 and the startup offers a $10 rebate which makes the device practically free.
Square’s expansion in the US has been going strong and the company announced in June that their retail presence had doubled from the start of 2012. According to figures the company released, the mobile reader is available in 20,000 U.S. retail stores. Some major players stocking the device are AT&T, Walgreens, Staples, FedEx Office, Apple, Wal-mart, Best Buy, RadioShack, and Target.
A company spokesperson also stated that, “Neighborhood retail locations are an important resource for small business owners to discover new opportunities and technologies that can help them grow. We’re hoping to bring the same retail success to Canada that we’ve seen in the U.S.”
Square was founded by Jim McKelvey and Jack Dorsey in 2009 and has gotten $10 billion in annualized payments from 2 million businesses that use the company’s services. Square has been a revolutionary service because it allows any user to attach a reader to a mobile device and accept payment through credit cards. Canada should be a very large growth market for the company and pave the way for entry into other countries around the world.
Source: TechCrunch
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