Submitted by Bob Bhatnagar on
What will they think of next? Soon if you want to accept credit cards at your garage sale there will be an app for that. A project named Square is now in alpha testing and expects to allow iPhone users to process credit card transactions for a fee.
The money transfers directly to the bank account of the merchant and the purchaser receives an email receipt. As seen in the photo from Cool Hunting above, the credit card reader is an accessory that simply plugs into the headphone jack of the iPhone or iPod Touch.
After swiping the card, the merchant can enter the amount to be paid and the customer's email address. The customer then validates the transaction by adding a signature using their fingers on the touch screen.
The receipt and each transaction record uses iPhone OS location services to record a map of exactly where the transaction took place.
Square expects to process transactions for a fixed fee plus a percentage of the total transaction amount. The process is completely mobile and paperless.No word on when the iPhone-based payment processing system will hit the streets, or how much the app and its card-reading accessory will cost.