Crunching the Numbers on Mobile Payment Systems

The cashless society is coming: American consumers now carry more than 750 million credit cards, while paper currency production continues to decline. In fact, the U.S. Bureau of Printing and Engraving produced fewer $1 and $5 bills in 2010 than at any other time in the last 30 years.

Related: Will This Payment App Make You Ditch Your Wallet?

So why do so many small businesses still refuse to take plastic? After all, the old excuses–excessive transaction fees, hidden costs, cumbersome processing systems–no longer apply. Credit goes to the emergence of new mobile payment applications that enable virtually anyone with a smartphone or tablet to accept credit and debit cards anywhere, anytime. The best known among them, Square, generates more than $4 million in transactions each day.

But Square isn’t the only mobile payment processing solution available–it may not even be the best one for your particular startup. Let’s crunch the numbers.   Read More