Beginning today, small businesses across the U.S. will be able to process more than $12,000 worth of Apple Pay payments for free ($350 worth of savings in Square processing costs) by encouraging their customers to pay with Apple Pay.
Sellers can request a free Apple Pay marketing kit with collateral encouraging customers to pay with their iPhone or Apple Watch and staff training materials to educate employees about accepting Apple Pay. The processing credit is available once sellers have set up their countertop display for verification.
A similar effort to educate and provide sellers a way to teach consumers about the benefits of paying with Apple Pay took place in Portland last year. The percentage of card transactions from contactless payments at Portland Square sellers tripled over the course of the campaign.
“We’ve loved using the new Square reader at all four of our locations,” said Julie Bond, owner of Saint Cupcake & Poplandia Popcorn in Portland. “The entire experience of paying with your iPhone is more fast and fun for our customers and for us.”
Increased awareness for Apple Pay is also driving traction at major festivals and events. Across Kanye West’s Life of Pablo pop-up shops in August there was significant usage of contactless transaction in cities across the U.S., from San Francisco (28%), to Dallas and Houston (both 14%). Together with Apple Pay, Square is taking this approach nationwide to help move the payments industry forward through initiatives that educate sellers and customers.
“It’s no secret that chip cards can be slow, which is why we built our reader to also accept contactless payments, a faster and safer way to pay,” said Jesse Dorogusker, Square’s Hardware Lead. “Anything we can do to make a seller’s experience faster and safer, including working with Apple to encourage Apple Pay usage, is an investment worth making.”