When is square going to join the 21st century and add a USB C reader!?

[RockUT]

I first asked for this years ago.   USB c has been out for 10 years!

Using a cable is a Kludge!

It is not stable and adds another point of failure.

Your contactless reader is not a good substitute because it doesn't read stripes and is much larger.

You already have a lightning reader why not C?

I am not at all happy.

Should we all go to a different processing vendor? Or sue?   Will you then listen to your customers who ALL have USB c phones and now no headphone jacks?

[Donnie-M]

@RockUT I think you make an excellent post and just need a different perspective.

1.  The USB-C plug connection was finalized in late 2014.  I can totally understand waiting to adopt a new standard when you have a ton of money invested in the current custom production standards of the contactless reader.  So while usb-c hasn't quite been out 10 years, the EU just passed legislation mandating switching to USB-C this year.  There are a lot of good reasons to switch to usb-c from the micro-usb standard.  But the dock to the square reader actually uses USB-A, which could easily use a USB-c Adapter, but most all laptops and USB hubs (like the square stand) use the USB-A today.  Only some offer an additional USB-C option.

2.  Cables- While some may find them a hodge podge, a wired connection is the gold standard of reliability and connectivity.  Wireless is great, but Bluetooth is not 100% reliable, wi-fi is much more robust, but not 100%.  So if someone needs the utmost in security and reliability, wired will still win out.  I know I personally only use 10/100 network printers in all of my stores for this very reason.. Rock Solid Reliability.  You are always gonna have to have cables to charge devices, even wireless charges require a cable to the charger from the power source.

3.  I assume here you are talking about the swiper on the phone, well I am not sure if you are aware, but Visa, MC, AMEX, & everyone else have rendered mag stripes obsolete.  90% of all cards now are chip/dip or tap to pay.  The swipe also since banks moved to the EMV shift give you no chargeback protection.  The contactless reader is just required to do business in the future, so I understand not investing time or money in something going out of style.

4.  Well you are in luck here, Use tap to pay with square and iphone for your business! You can use your apple device to take cards through the phone with no reader, no cables, no contactless reader..only need an iphone!!!!  This is where the solution is there and fits right in your pocket.... of course if you are an android user, then you are gonna have to wait for google to open this up on their devices, nothing square can do about that.

5.  I would ask apple the same question, why did the EU have to pass a law to force it if USB-C is so good.  You can use a USB-C to 3.5mm adapter to accept swipe payments if you need to.  USB-C to 3.5mm But square also has the ability to send payment links via text to customers, you can pay with a QR code, or even use the cash app to accept payments.  There are tons of ways to get paid even with out a headphone jack reader.

6.  Happiness for me is wanting what I have not what I don't have, because there will always be something that I want that I don't have.  Square gives you tons of ways to get paid, but magstripes are going to disappear in less than 10 years.  "The magnetic stripe will start to disappear in 2024 from Mastercard payment cards in regions, such as Europe, where chip cards are already widely used. Banks in the U.S. will no longer be required to issue chip cards with a magnetic stripe, starting in 2027."  So if you haven't switched in the next 3 or 4 years, you will be behind the curve greatly.

7.  I have to take exception here, not all customers have usb-c phones, apple has a 55% market share so more than half of every person walking around is walking around without a usb-c connection in their pocket.  I am not sure I would want to waste the money suing a company to do something that won't matter in a few years and only affects a small percentage of the customer base when there are so many alternatives that work better.  I wouldn't want to sue someone to begin with, have you seen what a lawyer charges...sheesh.

TL:DR

While some of this is tongue in cheek, the facts are that usb-c mag stripe reader would be useless for almost all of the people who use square except if the only device you use is an android phone and you don't care about chargeback protection.  For that fraction of the customer base, a USB-C reader would nice, but by no means required.  You are just as protected doing manual entry.  With the EMV shift, changes to mag stripes, future technology there is just no compelling reason for Square or any other company to hold onto the past.  I attached some more links below for more reading on the aforementioned items:

https://squareup.com/us/en/emv-liability-shift 

Mastercard Newsroom - Magstripe 

[RockUT]

Thanks for your tongue in cheek for a very serious problem.

It was most helpful.

The reader I am talking about is for mobile use.    Carrying a large bulky

expensive reader is out of the question for most of us.  As i am sure carrying around the cash register 

in your restaurants is for you.

A chip reader or contactless could be made for USB C but this has not been done.

So we will have to make do with a stripe reader for which a change in interface can be made for approximately the same final cost per unit.

Don't make light of our problems.

[Donnie-M]

@RockUT I only meant to match the tone of the original post so I could try to convey information in a pertinent way.  The strict facts of the situation are that mag stripe readers are obsolete and are going away.  I wanted to make sure that anyone else who read your post with a similar question had factual information to make an informed decision.

But what you are looking for is readily available for 5-15$.

[RockUT]

What i am looking for is one piece we do not have to pay extra for.

We invoice most of our purchases by customers.