Dive Brief:
- Apple and Square have teamed up to release a new card reader that will accept Apple Pay’s near-field communication (NFC) technology and EMV chip-and-pin-cards.
- Square will ship its classic magnetic stripe reader along with the new hardware to ensure clients can accept all forms of payment.
- Square will ship 250,000 new readers free this fall for merchants who apply, and charge an MSRP of $49 afterward.
Dive Insight:
This new Square/Apple partnership is seen as a win-win for both companies: The move, announced on stage at the Apple developers' conference on Monday, will bring even more attention to the payments startup while helping Apple in its quest to make 2015 "the year of Apple Pay," as CEO Tim Cook said in January. Square will continue to charge its 2.75% fee on all transactions, incentivizing cooperation with its business, and by default, Apple Pay.
This news also comes just days after Reuters reported that only about a quarter of the nation's top 100 retailers accept Apple Pay currently, with the majority of them not planning to add it this year. So while the new partnership might bring more small merchants to Apple Pay acceptance, it seems that Apple still has some work to do to get the big names involved.