Today Square (NYSE: SQ) announced the launch of the Square In-App Payments Software Development Kit (SDK), enabling developers and sellers to process payments with Square within their consumer-facing mobile apps for the first time.
With just a few lines of code, developers can easily and professionally build a fully PCI compliant, secure, and elegant Square-powered payments flow in their Android or iOS apps. With this SDK, developers leave the complexity of payments to Square and focus instead on providing a delightful buyer experience. The In-App Payments SDK is available for iOS, Android, and Flutter starting today in the United States, Canada, UK, Australia, and Japan.
The In-App Payments SDK provides a customizable payments flow that works with the most popular payment types. The SDK includes a beautifully designed, interactive user experience that guides buyers as they enter their credit card information, preventing errors and providing a smoother checkout experience. Developers can use this default flow as-is, update certain elements, or customize the entire experience to match the look and feel of their apps. Buyers can pay with their credit or debit cards, digital wallets such as Apple Pay and Google Pay, or can choose to save their credit card information for future purchases.
The SDK further establishes Square’s omnichannel payments platform, making Square the only platform with first-party products that provide an end-to-end payments experience across in-person, web, and mobile app transactions. By using one platform for payments, developers and sellers minimize the complexity, security, and compliance of managing payments across channels. For sellers that also means a single, unified system for back-office reporting and the ability to see a holistic view of their buyers’ behavior for easier customer service and loyalty.
“With the introduction of in-app mobile payments to the Square platform, developers now have a complete, omnichannel payments solution for all their payment needs,” said Carl Perry, Developer Lead at Square. “From software to hardware to services, Square offers a complete payments experience all in one cohesive open platform. Even better, developers and sellers can manage all their payments across in-store, mobile and online all in one place.”
One company beta-testing the Square In-App Payments SDK was PepperHQ, which creates customized, merchant-branded mobile apps for hospitality companies looking for mobile payments, order ahead solutions, and more. In partnership with Square, Pepper provides seamless integration of ordering and payment in to a merchant's systems and operations. Pepper used the In-App Payments SDK so that their merchant customers can use the same payments provider in their mobile app that they use in store.
"With this SDK, Square took care of a lot of the heavy lifting of storing card information, processing transactions and more. Using Square for payments alongside sending pickup orders for fulfilment into Square’s Point of Sale, reduces complexity and means that Pepper can implement apps quicker, with less fuss for merchants.” said Adam Robinson, Chief Product Officer at PepperHQ. “The Square In-App Payments SDK is a slicker implementation than other options in the market and felt frictionless from the beginning. We were able to customize the look and feel of the flow so that it looks the way our clients want but still feels native to the app so its trustworthy and honest.”
Brushfire, a fast-growing ticketing and registration platform, also has been using the SDK through the beta program. Brushfire was able to quickly integrate Square’s In-App Payments SDK into their mobile apps to allow customers to easily buy tickets at local events, increasing conversion by more than 20%.
"Square’s in-app payments SDK was painless and easy to use,” said Jorin Slaybaugh, Technology Lead at Brushfire. “We loved it from a technical standpoint: it allowed us to do something that was literally impossible for us to do before, and we were able to do it easier than ever. That’s all that matters to developers.”