The Opportunity and Threat of Square for the Microsoft Dynamics GP Channel

Square is a credit card processor that has the potential be severely disruptive. The company provides a simple dongle that plugs into the headphone jack of iPhone and Android phones. It's tiny. It allows merchants to accept credit cards virtually anywhere and it's a perfect example of a new tool that represents both an opportunity for the Microsoft Dynamics channel and a threat to the Microsoft technology stack.

For example, I travel a lot. Cabs and hired cars are a pain because they don't like credit cards. Aside from losing their walking around money, many cabs still use the old manual slips that get processed later. These are extremely susceptible to fraud. In Vegas recently, it took our driver the full 20 minute ride on the radio to get our credit card approved.

I have a friend with a small car service and I mentioned Square. He got setup and uses it on his iPhone. The first day he used Square it prevented him from taking a bad card. Previously he would have been stuck with that charge. Now he swipes the card and hands the phone to the passenger to input their email address or text message number for a receipt. The passenger usually gets a receipt before their luggage is out of the trunk. When my friend cancelled his traditional credit card service, the processor admitted that they had no answer to Square.

This is one example and I keep seeing others. For firms that occasionally sell at a conferences, Square is perfect. Whether it's letting servers take payment at a restaurant table, running a hip, Apple-style retail store or an outdoor kiosk. For any transactions where credit card processing is hard, Square makes it easy. ...