The Square Credit-Card Reader Controversy, Part 2: Did Verifone Win?
Back in March, credit card processing giant Verifone tried to put the smackdown on mobile-payment upstart Square, with the CEO of the former citing "serious security flaws" in Square's smartphone-savvy card reader.
As you may recall, the smear campaign backfired bigtime. Verifone emerged looking like a big corporate bully, while Square CEO Jack Dorsey came across as classy and measured in a straightforward, informative open letter to customers and consumers.
Game, set, match? Not quite. An unofficial Round Two kicked off last week when Square announced a forthcoming new version of its card reader. What's different this time around? New encryption-oriented security features -- exactly what Verifone faulted the device for lacking.
Meanwhile, Dorsey's aforementioned letter has been taken down from Square's site. Is this an admission that Verifone was right? Not necessarily: Square's announcement came on the heels of Visa's new mobile acceptance best practices. Don't see the connection? Visa recently became a Square investor.
So one could argue that Square was just following the guidelines set by one of its partners, or that the company was merely making inevitable improvements in the all-important area of card security. A lot of this is open to interpretation.
Fortunately, it doesn't change much for you, the business owner. The Square remains one of the most affordable and convenient tools for processing mobile payments, with no security risks to speak of from a merchant standpoint.
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