Square has launched an alternative to PayPal, according to VentureBeat.
The new payment tool was designed for small businesses looking to move from brick-and-mortar to eCommerce, the news service reported.
As COVID-19 has forced shutdowns and social distancing, web sales have been on the rise, and many entrepreneurs are moving their business models online.
According to Essential Retail, online sales in March increased by 97 percent for home products and furnishings compared to March of 2019; 136 percent for do-it-yourself products; 163 percent for garden essentials; 27 percent for electronics and 30 percent for jewelry.
With Square Online Checkout, the San Francisco mobile payment company hopes to capitalize on this shift by offering companies what it claims is an easier way to accept online card payments. It will work on any website, social media profile, instant messaging app and SMS (text messaging), Square said.
Sellers who do not use Square can sign up for online checkout. From the dashboard, they can create a link for any products or services for which they want to accept payment. Square charges 2.9 percent and 30 cents per transaction.
Square has been compared to Stripe Checkout, but per the report, Square’s version is a simpler, lower-tech option for those entrepreneurs looking to accept payments on the fly, similar to PayPal. Square users just need a name, email address and credit card number to complete transactions.
The news comes one day after Square reported first-quarter revenues of $1.4 billion, up 44 percent compared to one year ago and about $80 million better than analysts predicted. Total quarter gross payment volumes improved to $25.7 billion, up 14 percent year over year and below the consensus of $26.5 billion.
