Square is the current darling of the tech news world, and for good reason. It’s a revolutionary take on an existing market that has the potential to transform the way we think about credit card payments and merchant accounts. Gone are the days of comparing merchant accounts based on monthly fees, interchange charges, and countless other unintelligible fees. The most recent Square update now gives store owners the ability to replace cash registers with iPads running the Square app.
The future of Square could not be brighter. There are so many directions that the company can go in that it will never be able to cover them all. I expect that over the next 2-3 years we will an entire ecosystem of apps built around Square, just like we saw with Twitter. You’ll start seeing industry specific add-ons (gas stations, anyone?) and an online payments integration. So, so much potential. For all these reasons I believe that Square is the most disruptive startup ever created.
I believe that the term “disruptive” is very overused at this point. Having startup contests that have “disrupt” in the name is a little much, considering that almost none of the startups created are actually disruptive thinking. A truly disruptive company, like Square, changes how an industry operates. I don’t see Twitter, Facebook, or the like as disruptive because they essentially created new markets. Square isn’t creating a new market, they are completing redefining what it means to be a payment processing company.
I sincerely hope that Square doesn’t get purchased by Visa, First Data, or any other major player in the credit card industry. We need a company like Square to be out there changing the game and making credit card payments better for everyone, customer and seller.
What are your thoughts on Square and truly disruptive startups? Do you see a potential ecosystem of Square add-ons in the coming years?