Square Reader Launches At 7,000 Starbucks Stores

Square was early to the mobile connected card reader market and the company is continuing its dominance in the space. On Thursday the company announced that it is now being sold throughout Starbucks’ 7,000 company operated stores in the United States.

With Starbucks now on-board Square readers are being sold at more than 30,000 retail locations. In comparison the Square Reader was available at only 20,000 outlets in June.

Major outlets selling the Square Reader now include AT&T, Walgreens, Staples, FedEx Office, Apple, Wal-mart, Best Buy, RadioShack, and Target.

The Square reader sells for the cheap cost of $9.99 and after achieving $10 in transaction fees the buyer receives that money back in the form of a bank account deposit.

The Starbucks deal is unique in that the coffee firm invested $25 million in Square and Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz recently joined the Board of Directors at the emerging payments platform.

With its investment in Square the placement of the company’s $9.99 units could be a big win for both company’s. For example, Square now offers giftcards to Square supported stores and by constantly reminding Starbucks customers about the Square platform the company could witness increases sales both at Starbucks and at Square.

If nothing else the Square Reader placement at Starbucks stores could lead to increased retailer interest, which in turn will lead to more visibility.

At this time Square has not revealed how many Square Readers it has sold, however 2012 marked the first time the company has reached more than $10 billion in transactions in a single year.

In the meantime Square is facing some company’s such as PayAnywhere and Paypal’s own Paypal Here platform.

Have you started using the Square platform at your business? What would make you switch to the company’s services in the future?

[Image via techaaka]