Square’s latest payments reader is coming to an Apple store near you, the company tells TechCrunch. The devices will retail for $49 and be available online and in-store throughout the U.S.
Launched last fall, Square’s new contraption is NFC-enabled and works with Apple Pay. Now the standard in many countries, it accepts EMV chip cards, which are more secure than credit cards with magnetic stripes.
The updates make it easier to pay with your phone or smartwatch. The device is also wireless and connects to tablets via Bluetooth. And it, of course, syncs with the Square app, which helps businesses track payments and inventory.
It only makes sense that Square would want to expand its distribution. Apple has sold previous Square readers and it’s logical that the retail giant would want to sell a reader that accepts Apple Pay.
Past Square products have been sold everywhere from Walmart to Walgreens, but the company has yet to unveil additional distribution channels for its latest devices.
Square went public last fall and, like many tech stocks, the company has struggled to stay afloat in the public markets. Valued at under $3 billion, its market cap is less than half of the $6 billion valuation the company had before its IPO.
Founder and CEO Jack Dorsey, who also runs Twitter, has a lot of work to do, but there’s no question that he helped create two innovative multi-billion dollar businesses.
