Linked: Back to Square One

via FastCompany:

The fuzzy focus culminated in Square Wallet, which was initially called Card Case. Though Dorsey won’t acknowledge it publicly, the aim internally, says one source, was to “own both sides of the counter”–vendor and customer–so the company could one day “cut out the credit-card companies altogether.” (At weekly all-hands meetings, former COO Keith Rabois, only half-jokingly, used to announce the projected date on which Square’s payments-processing volume would overtake Visa’s.) Instead of helping consumers pay with their phones, like many other digital-wallet products, Square’s Wallet app enabled consumers to open a virtual tab with a nearby shop and then pay for items merely by saying their name when they arrived. Despite its popularity with the tech vanguard, Wallet saw barely any adoption. Few merchants accepted it, partly because few consumers paid with it, and vice versa. Even where Square Wallet was accepted, cashiers often didn’t know how it worked. “It wasn’t necessarily faster, or more convenient,” Dorsey says, looking back. “It felt more futuristic, but that doesn’t make it better.”

I STILL use Square Wallet. Every single merchant I’ve ever encountered accepts Wallet. i’ve never had an issue paying with Wallet and at most of the breweries, cafes and bakeries that I frequent, I auto-check in when walking through the doors. They see me on the list and charge me. The fact that Square Wallet is no longer available on the App store is a shame but I still keep it on my iPhone and use it every single day when I’m in big-cities. Finally, I use it as a way to find nearby establishment. I open it and use it like FourSquare to find nearby cafes. For some reason, a cafe taking square means they do Pour-Over coffee…something about the hipster-ness of Square that if a place accepts wallet, I’m certain the quality of their coffee is also good. Wallet is a utility in my life that I’d hate to give up. Why it didn’t catch on doesn’t make sense.