Square Beefs Up Mobile Card Reader's Capabilities

Square is adding more features to set its reader apart from the various other smartphone plug-ins that can also read magnetic-stripe cards.

Its latest update, disclosed in a June 27 notice on the iTunes App Store, allows merchants that use Square to "enable staff to collect payments on [their] behalf using their mobile phone."

This addition is the latest in a series of updates that Square has rolled out this year to make its card reader a more practical choice for merchants with complex needs.

Square's most prominent update was the March launch of Register, an iPad app that Square says can replace a merchant's cash register. The free app provides simple inventory tools, but lacks the breadth of pricier products from competitors.

Square also announced a loyalty function June 19 that allows merchants to provide incentives to prospective or repeat customers.

Square's original selling point was its simplicity in making card payments accessible to micro-merchants. However, it has faced a recent onslaught of similar products from competitors like PayPal, Intuit and VeriFone.

Intuit recently announced updates to its GoPayment mobile card reader, which now integrates with its Quickbooks Point of Sale software. VeriFone in May revamped its mobile card-reader strategy with the launch of Sail, a complementary product to its Payware Mobile sleeve for smartphones and tablets.