For more than a year , Squarehas been on the leading boundary of a revolution in Commerce Department with its app that rent merchant use iOS devices as credit entry card readers . On Monday , it expanded its elbow grease witha new appthat turns an iPad into a fully - functioning cash register .
Like its precursor , the new Square Register app allow merchant take and process credit entry and debit entry card payments without having to pony up for a traditional — and expensive — card - interpret system . ( With both apps , you must have a Square report , and obtaina free Square calling card proofreader , which plugs into the iOS gimmick ’s earphone jack . )
But Square Register offers an expanded range of lineament , lease merchants add photos , name , and prices of the items in their sale stock-taking to enable a “ degraded checkout ” cognitive process that tallies up , records , and process a full sale . The app also tracks repeat customers , helping merchants who desire to reward loyalty by offer discounts and reward to their regulars . And Square Register also put up an analytics program to track the best - deal item and the most - profitable times of day . The app can also wirelessly connect your tablet to a reception printer and cash draftsman . ( See the video below for a full tour of the capableness . )
The app is free , but it does come in with a monetary value : Square charges a 2.75 - percent fee on every swipe of a Visa , MasterCard , Discover , or American Express . But merchandiser may find that they spend less on a basic $ 500 iPad using Square Register than they do on irregular touchscreen cash registerthat , after all , ca n’t be taken home and used to understand or watch movies .
As Apple has grow its contribution of the go-ahead market in recent days , there has been a lot of talk about the “ consumerization of tech”—the idea being that business executive director love their iPhones and iPads so much that they ’ve force otherwise - skeptical IT manager to allow those machines in the work . But Square offers another seam to that process : Apple product might be expensive in the consumer market place , but — in combination with developers like Square and its competitors — they are often cheaper than the equipment that entrepreneurs would otherwise need to buy for their new and diminished businesses , offer Apple a grassroots entry avenue into the enterprise grocery .
Square Register is compatible with iPads running iOS 5.0 or later .
