The founder and CEO of Square, a startup that provides the ability to process payments from plastic cards from iOS and Android, shared an interesting photo from the office (we like the huge dashboard), as well as some interesting figures that give a brief insight into Square's business.
Admittedly, this company has long been in my field of vision, but only recently, after Visa announced a strategic investment in a startup, it became obvious that mobile payments have a great future ahead of them.
To date, in numbers, the situation is as follows: Square has delivered more than 340,000 card readers, and has about 335,000 activated users.
Over the past 10 days, thanks to the placement of the device in Apple stores in the United States, profit increased by 40% - to $59,390 per day. The total transaction volume is a modest $137 million, with 24k transactions per day.
The growth rate that the entire technology is showing today is truly impressive: in March of this year, Square processed transactions worth $1 million every day — today, after two months, this amount is $2 million.
Unless the hydrogen bomb grows in volume faster.
But what is even more interesting is the interest of Visa, the number one vendor, whose product is now in the pocket of every person in a civilized country.
For those who are not up to date, let me remind you that Visa has historically tried to enter the new electronic mobile transaction market on its own. First, with the help of our own development based on NFC chips, and then by launching our own analog of PayPal.
It becomes obvious that the achievements of Square (where, by the way, 2/3 of transactions are made with the help of this company's cards) forced us to re-evaluate the situation in Visa and meet the startup halfway. According to statistics, there are 27 million business representatives in this market who do not work with plastic cards in principle. As Keith Rabois, COO of Square, puts it: "We are enabling all these companies to start accepting plastic cards with minimal investment, as soon as possible."
The amount that Visa "entered" into the startup was not disclosed. But judging by the fact that one of Visa's top managers is now serving on the board of directors, it suggests that the "strategic investment" was made with a head start for the future. Still, if the mobile plastic transaction market continues to show the same pace in the near future, competitors will also want to enter it: MasterCard, American Express, etc. Square's commission is 2.75% per transaction. These cents have already started to turn into millions of dollars in profits.
For Square, such a partner means not only increased influence, but also, first of all, confirmation of "good intentions". For some time, the network actively discussed security issues related to both the Square card reader itself and the technology for transmitting and storing user data. Two months ago, Square's competitor VeriFone published an open letter to the public and industry warning of "huge security holes" in Square's platform and hardware. Jack Dorsey immediately responded with arguments, and recent events have shown that all fears are unfounded.
Now that Square is backed by Visa, J. P. Morgan Chase (which handled the second round of investment, the company's securities manager), and a huge billboard in Time Square, things are getting more interesting.
Admittedly, this company has long been in my field of vision, but only recently, after Visa announced a strategic investment in a startup, it became obvious that mobile payments have a great future ahead of them.
To date, in numbers, the situation is as follows: Square has delivered more than 340,000 card readers, and has about 335,000 activated users.
Over the past 10 days, thanks to the placement of the device in Apple stores in the United States, profit increased by 40% - to $59,390 per day. The total transaction volume is a modest $137 million, with 24k transactions per day.
The growth rate that the entire technology is showing today is truly impressive: in March of this year, Square processed transactions worth $1 million every day — today, after two months, this amount is $2 million.
Unless the hydrogen bomb grows in volume faster.
But what is even more interesting is the interest of Visa, the number one vendor, whose product is now in the pocket of every person in a civilized country.
For those who are not up to date, let me remind you that Visa has historically tried to enter the new electronic mobile transaction market on its own. First, with the help of our own development based on NFC chips, and then by launching our own analog of PayPal.
It becomes obvious that the achievements of Square (where, by the way, 2/3 of transactions are made with the help of this company's cards) forced us to re-evaluate the situation in Visa and meet the startup halfway. According to statistics, there are 27 million business representatives in this market who do not work with plastic cards in principle. As Keith Rabois, COO of Square, puts it: "We are enabling all these companies to start accepting plastic cards with minimal investment, as soon as possible."
The amount that Visa "entered" into the startup was not disclosed. But judging by the fact that one of Visa's top managers is now serving on the board of directors, it suggests that the "strategic investment" was made with a head start for the future. Still, if the mobile plastic transaction market continues to show the same pace in the near future, competitors will also want to enter it: MasterCard, American Express, etc. Square's commission is 2.75% per transaction. These cents have already started to turn into millions of dollars in profits.
For Square, such a partner means not only increased influence, but also, first of all, confirmation of "good intentions". For some time, the network actively discussed security issues related to both the Square card reader itself and the technology for transmitting and storing user data. Two months ago, Square's competitor VeriFone published an open letter to the public and industry warning of "huge security holes" in Square's platform and hardware. Jack Dorsey immediately responded with arguments, and recent events have shown that all fears are unfounded.
Now that Square is backed by Visa, J. P. Morgan Chase (which handled the second round of investment, the company's securities manager), and a huge billboard in Time Square, things are getting more interesting.
