Sick of slow credit card chip readers? Here's Square's solution

While Square's line of point-of-sale devices make it so small businesses and independent merchants alike can accept credit cards using a phone or a tablet, there's still that moment of silence while the card reader takes what feels like a millennia to process a credit card..

To combat the issue, Square announced today that it's cut down on transaction time, ensuring that you can get out the door (or serve more customers, depending on which side of the checkout you're on) faster than ever thanks its latest software update.

The update speeds up its new line of card readers, which are compatible with EMV cards - better known as chip cards - as well as contactless payment services like Apple Pay.

Gotta go fast

Square boasts that the reader update cuts the time between touching your chip and the transaction completion down to 4.2 seconds - about 25% faster than its current record of 5.7 seconds.

Things don't stop there, as Square plans to keep working to lower transaction speeds until it hits 3 seconds flat - a feat it claims is possible thanks to the fact that the company develops not just the software, but also the hardware that powers its mobile point-of-sale system.

While a few seconds doesn't seem like much, any retail employee can attest that that smidgen of wasted time can easily compound during a busy afternoon into longer lines at checkout - the bane of customer and clerk alike.

• How to make money online

Source: TechRadar posted by Admin