Amazon credit-card reader poses challenge to Square

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-28773906

by SeanDav • 12 years ago

19 14 12 years ago

bbc.co.uk

ams6110• 12 years ago

Rather than credit the user's bank directly, the company instead adds the sum to their Amazon Payments account

So no, for most small businesses, this will not pose a challenge to Square. I need my payments in my bank account, not in Amazon's

skyo• 12 years ago

You can always get transfers from your Amazon payments account to your bank account

dataminer2• 12 years ago

Whats the transfer schedule from Amazon payments to the bank account? Square schedule is next business day.

latchkey• 12 years ago

http://localregister.amazon.com/help/201551280/transferring-...

tldr: "Amazon Local Register supports one-time, daily, or weekly automatic transfers. There are no fees associated with making transfers."

37prime• 12 years ago

From Amazon Local Registers:

In order to ensure that the funds are deposited to your bank account on the next business day, you must set up automatic daily transfers or manually transfer the funds from your Amazon Payments account to your bank account by 4 pm local time (4 pm Pacific for AK and HI). Not all banks have the ability to receive deposits within one business day. Contact your bank for details. Reserves may apply, including for manually keyed transactions.

It seems that the funds can be directly deposited to bank accounts.

elsewhen• 12 years ago

for a small business that has $500k in gross revenue through credit cards, this promotion saves them $5k - all of which goes straight to their bottom line. in most instances, this will probably be compelling enough to convince a switch. amazon's willingness to hemorrhage money as they move into a new market is ruthless.

ch4s32• 12 years ago

Seems like a Faustian deal. 5K now so that amazon can use the data to put you out of business later.

patrickaljord• 12 years ago

I've seen these FUD conspiracy comments posted everywhere today. Not a fan of amazon in particular myself but I mean, come on, having some data is not enough to replace whole profitable businesses. Not to mentions all the restaurants and food trucks that will use this, I don't think amazon will start opening food trucks everywhere.

msoad• 12 years ago

A business that can go out of business, will go out of business no matter what

jcampbell1• 12 years ago

My last experiences with Square, were a charity event, a farmer's market, and kiteboarding lessons. In my experience, the Square's hardware is total shit, and I can't imagine these vendors care about anything but processing fees.

The stupid square reader that spins when you swipe is reason enough not to use them. This is just another $5000 reasons.

MBCook• 12 years ago

If all you do is sell the same generic boxed goods as everyone else then you may be right.

But there are plenty of businesses that this would work well for such as service businesses. Amazon won't spring up a tree trimming business overnight. Or what about small gyms, kids play places, bakeries, etc? Amazon can't turn those into 'showrooms' for things you can order from Amazon.com.

Amazon credit-card reader poses challenge to Square

Related Stories