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Comment by nchlswu | Hacker News Reader

Some of the comments criticising stripe-only and lack of Interac support, seem a tad hyperbolic.

While these are valid concerns, Stripe transactions are still accepted and I'm sure there's a decent chunk of places using stripe. By the time chip is universal, I'm sure Square will have addressed this shortcoming. As for Interac, I'm presumig that the expansion to Canada will also include the Starbucks partnership, so I imagine it can't be far behind.

The regulatory environment is much different in Canada. The biggest thing I see here is the fact that a startup with significant attention and traction is entering our market. When they partnered with Starbucks, I was curious if that would mean they would provide coverage across North America and it definitely looks like they are. In the short term, I think Square Wallet is the key takeaway here. Mobile payments are gaining some serious steam and Square has a big chance to establish an early lead.

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I think some of my fellow Canadians are being a bit harsh on Square here. You raise some good points, Starbucks is also one of the only places here in Canada that I still swipe at. Most other places insert chip.

But I think it will take a long time for those others to switch or even consider using a different platform. I'd guess that this is also what Square assumes.

But there's a big opportunity here that I enjoy dealing with in the US but hate here in Canada. I don't use cash and I travel a lot. I have to go to the airport by taxi frequently. In Canada it's a pain in the ass because they actually get out the old carbon copy machine and the drivers complain all the time. In the US the driver hands me his phone with a Square on it. So much better.

Square's goal seems to be removing as many barriers as possible to accepting CCs; they aren't aiming for people who already take them as much as those who otherwise couldn't (easily). The hardware needed to accept chipped cards is far more complex than the simple mag-stripe reader they're currently using (not to mention likely not universal); it'll take time to start production on those. The incumbents will still be around to displace once they're ready to.

They could buy iZettle ;)

Starbucks in Canada is already using what I assume is a square based app. I'm not sure how this has any effect on accepting Interac, since the Starbucks app doesn't work in that fashion at all. It's closer to pay-pal than a pos tool.

I'm not sure if it's transitioned to a Square-based app yet. If I recall correctly, details around the partnership were slim.

In the short term, it meant that Square would process all of Square's payments on the backend. Square app-integration would occur in the long term. My line of reasoning was basically that Square's launch in Canada closely coincides with the Starbucks partnership, which means they will be processing all of their Canadian transactions, which has to include Interac.

If/when the Starbucks app transitions to the Square wallet type implementation, it would act as a catalyst for Square adoption in Canada. And you raise a good point, the app will change greatly once it's implemented.

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