Square Launches Terminal To Replace Legacy Keypad Terminals

Square, the payments company, announced Thursday (Oct. 18) the launch of an integrated all-in-one card processing device dubbed Square Terminal.

The company revealed in a press release that Square Terminal will enable merchants to ring up sales, accept all forms of payments and print receipts from one device. The solution aims to make the payments process easier for businesses that use their own point-of-sale (POS) solution or manually enter in a payment amount. In addition, Terminal offers sellers a flat rate for every transaction of 2.6 percent, plus $.10, and $399 for the device. New-to-Square sellers will pay $99 for Square Terminal after a $300 processing credit. The company is offering merchants a 30-day risk-free trial period to test out the new product.

“Payment terminals are everywhere, from liquor stores to dry cleaners to dentists, and with Square Terminal we can now serve these sellers better with new, elegant hardware on top of Square’s fair and secure payments service,” said Jesse Dorogusker, head of hardware at Square. “Square Terminal is designed from the ground up to ensure a feeling of familiarity, so sellers and their customers can use it right away. With Square Terminal, we now offer a sophisticated and modern hardware-plus-software solution for every type of business.”

The move comes at a time of change for Square. Earlier this month, the company announced that its CFO is stepping down, which caused its shares to fall in after-hours trading on the day of the announcement. Square’s CEO Jack Dorsey revealed that Sarah Friar — often described as his right-hand person — was leaving the company to become to the CEO of Nextdoor.

Square said it will begin a search for a new CFO led by David Viniar, its lead independent director and former Goldman Sachs CFO. Friar, who will stay at Square until December, helped see the company through its initial public offering (IPO) and helped build its mobile services.

In August, it was reported that cumulative downloads of Square’s Cash App surpassed PayPal‘s Venmo for the first time, after Square’s service grew three times faster than its rival in July. Data from Sensor Tower and Nomura Instinet revealed that the Cash App’s cumulative downloads now total 33.5 million, exceeding Venmo’s 32.9 million.