Square’s New Handheld Payment Scanner Looks Like a Phone

Square has a new way for merchants to take your money: a new handheld device. The payment company’s little white pucks, touchscreen terminals, and portable wedges already crowd the world of contactless point-of-sale payments; you’ve probably swiped or tapped on a Square gadget countless times at cafés, retail stores, and farmer’s markets. The slick new phone-like handset is meant for servers, sellers, or anyone working in customer service to carry around and use to collect payments or put in orders. It is called, wait for it, Square Handheld. It costs $399 and is available now. Square says more than 4 million sellers already use its hardware and services in their businesses—point-of-sale terminals, payment processors, and inventory management tools that aim to keep a business running. (Square takes a cut of the transactions for its trouble.) In April, Square announced it was smashing all of its various services into a single point-of-sale app. The Square Handheld is another effort ... Read full article.