Square, the payments company founded by Twitter’s Jack Dorsey, is aggressively expanding in the UK. Today, it announced the British launch of the Square Stand, which turns an iPad into a full point-of-sale (POS) system.
The Square Stand lets vendors process card payments, track sales, and manage inventory. Square launched the device in the US in 2013, where it has undergone several iterations and improvements.
As is the case stateside, the company expects it to be popular with smaller vendors who otherwise wouldn’t possess the equipment to take card transactions.
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In a press release, Jesse Dorogusker, Hardware Lead for Square, said: “Square Stand was built to provide sellers with a unique and beautiful solution that makes taking in-person payments simple, elegant, and fast.”
“Sellers in the UK have been asking for a full countertop solution for their businesses since we first introduced Square,” he added.
You can’t fault Square’s timing. Last week, arch-rival Paypal acquired Sweden’s iZettle for an astonishing $2.2 billion, giving them a significant leg-up in the European card payment market.
Although Square’s hardware is genuinely gorgeous, it’s hard to compete with a company boasting the first-mover advantage. Especially, I add, if the company is backed by a behemoth like PayPal.
If Square is to make any significant traction, it’ll have to make decisive, aggressive moves.
The Square Stand is available from today from the Square Shop. Right now, the company is offering it for the introductory price of £64 (plus VAT). It’s not clear how much it’ll cost further down the road, however.
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