One of the founders of Twitter has launched a new mobile payments venture called Square. Here's how TechCrunch describes it:
The idea – let people quickly and easily accept physical credit card payments from their mobile phone. A small device attaches to the phone via the headset/microphone jack. The device gets the power it needs to send data to the phone from the swipe of the card, and sends the information over the microphone connection. Based on the shots below, the device is compatible with both the iPhone and Android (or at least the recently released Droid). Think paypal, but anyone can now accept physical credit card payments, too. With no contracts or monthly fees. People are sent receipts by text and email.
The service went live today. Here's what the service does:
TechCrunch has a full interview with the founder here.
The following video includes a short interview with the founder and a demo of the product: