Square payments iPad app will 'replace cash register'

Mobile payments service Square has launched a new iPad app for retailers, which it believes can replace the traditional cash register.

The company has already made it easier for companies to accept payments on the go, thanks to a basic app and a plug-in credit card reader.

But the new Square Register app for iPhone will also store a retailer's prices and stock information, a function traditionally performed by a cash register computer.

Card Case app

Square, run by Twitter founder Jack Dorsey, is also trialling a second app for iPhone, iPad and Android which allows users to use their phone as a digital wallet as selected retailers in the US.

The Card Case app, only currently available at 50 stores and cafes, will allow users to pay for their goods by checking-in with stores and then taking items to the register.

The app will be tied to a credit card account giving users the option of mobile payment, without the aid of NFC technology and negating the need for a physical credit card.

Card Case users will also be able to pay by telling retailers their name, if that store also uses the Square Register app.

Burgeoning

The company today announced that it has given away half a million card readers since it began using the tech, which allows customers to sign their name on the iPad's touchscreen.Square takes a 2.75 per cent cut of the transaction.

The burgeoning Square service processed $1 billion in transactions in last year and was used in one million transactions in the last month alone.