Is Square Ready To Ditch The iPad?

Though speculating as to whether or not Apple is going to acquire Square has essentially been the payment’s ecosystem’s favorite pastime for the last several years, it seems that for its part, Square is looking to put distance between itself and Cupertino as opposed to joining up.

According to reporting in The Information,  Square is allegedly working on a modified Android tablet of its own that would step-in to replace the Square Register powered by iPad.  The report also notes that this particular project is in its early development phase and could still quite possibly never see the light of day.  Even if the company can overcome the hardware issues, they still face the habits that they essentially created among small business owners nationwide.  Having gotten used to payments via iPad, it seems possible that many may be reluctant to switch.

So why now?

The article in TI speculates that the move is defensive on Square’s part.  By developing this alternative now, Square could possible avoid future complications if Apple should decided to block the current compatibility with Square Register.

And, according to TI, Square is not alone in thinking about how to counteract the looming Apple Pay threat on the horizon.  Google is allegedly also testing a new payments service that trades reliance on the NFC chip for a reliance on bluetooth.