Mobile point-of-sale (POS) enabler Square has announced its formal launch in the Australian market with new headquarters in Melbourne. The formal launch comes almost six months after Australian merchants could purchase the Square Register product across the country. While the Square Register is the company’s marquee product, it is expected the company will provide other payment services to Australia’s merchant community but at the moment this has not been disclosed.
In formally announcing the company’s launch, it also named Ben Pfisterer, a former NAB and Visa executive as the country’s company chief. In a statement Ben Pfisterer commented on the launch saying,
“Leveraging our knowledge of the local market, and the growth of Square around the world, we are looking forward to deploying an exciting product road map in the future that will help to make commerce easier for Australian small-business owners.”
While Australia may not have as many mPOS competitors as in Europe or the US, the market does have major players like the Commonwealth Bank of Australia that already provide their own mPOS solutions to their merchant community. Though Square may target smaller merchants than existing players, how this market develops will be interesting to monitor.
Overview by Tristan Hugo-Webb, Associate Director, Global Payments Advisory Service at Mercator Advisory Service
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