my phone can swipe my card! – more on mobile payments

A few days ago I wrote a blog about mobile payments and transactions and how prevalent they are.

Today, I discovered an article about Jack Dorsey’s Square that is taking mobile payments to a whole new level.

Here’s how it works: A small device is attached to your mobile phone’s headset jack and is then able to swipe credit cards. The credit information is then transferred to the device’s owner. Right now it is being used as a fund raising tool for Josh Becker and Reshma Saujani who are both running for government positions. Instead of people having to write a check or give cash at fundraisers, they simply plug in the device and swipe their card; Much easier for everyone!

And Square does not need to go looking for investors as it was valued at $40 million before it even launched in December 2009. Square is backed by venture capital advisors and entrepreneurs such as Biz Stone, the co-founder of Twitter, Ron Conway, Google’s Marissa Mayer, Foursquare co-founder Dennis Crowley, Digg creator Kevin Rose, Esther Dyson and expansion capital firm Khosla Ventures – Not too bad!