This article in Wired indicates that Square has released Web APIs that enable merchants to payment enable their web sites and track sales through one set of reporting tools:
“FOLLOWING A JUST-FINE debut earnings report earlier this month, San Francisco-based electronics payments company Square—best known for its credit card reader for mobile phones—is releasing a new set of tools that let merchants sell online to complement the ways it lets them sell offline.
Square’s new E-commerce API will let sellers, whether they already use Square to take credit cards or not, process payments on their own websites. It’s reminiscent of a similar service from payments darling Stripe, but aimed more at small businesses than well-funded Silicon Valley startups. Square’s new API is designed to let merchants track online and offline sales in one place.”
Perhaps in response to markets that have developed around m-POS solutions such as Clover Marketplace, Square is also introducing the Square Register API for iOS so merchants can customize the Square register to meet their exact needs:
“Another new tool, Square’s Register API, lets merchants customize any iOS point-of-sale app to suit their specific needs—something the company says should be especially useful for certain types of retail, like bike shops or wineries, which may have very specific requirements for their inventories.
Square says its ultimate goal is to eliminate the hassle sellers face of having to cobble together their systems from across a range of hardware, software, and payments processing options. From financing to payroll to payments to point-of-sale, Square is saying it wants to be a one-stop answer.”
It seems unlikely that Square’s customer base of small merchants actually has the wherewithal to customize software, so it is likely Square expects ISVs will start to develop solutions.
The announcement pushed Square’s stock up by almost $1.50 in a single day from $13.55 to $15.02 on March 30th at 4PM.
Overview by Tim Sloane, VP Payments Innovation at Mercator Advisory Group
Read the full story here