Does this have to do with the predominance of credit cards in the US otherwise (a relatively uncommon mode of payment where I live)?
Seems to me like a high value for a problem that I can't relate to.
Likely, and the same problem exists in European countries with significant CC[0] penetration (e.g. France, or Iceland where cash marks you as a tourist and I've seen people buy a single packet of gum on card): you have to request a quote from a payment processor, the first link I get (EMS) tells me to "request an offer or contact the sales team".
[0] leaving it for posterity, but I actually meant "cards-based payment" rather than "credit card": the payment processor issue applies to both. It is true (in my experience) that euro countries tend to use debit cards rather than credit cards.
I grew up in The Netherlands and I'm living in Italy now, and credit cards are generally viewed with suspicion. I didn't get a credit card until a few years ago when I needed one to live in the US.
A lot of people that I know are uncomfortable with credit cards. I'm guessing that's because they're associated with fraud; banks here don't make it easy to file reports in general. My card was used fraudulently for the first time a few months ago and it took A LOT of paperwork for my bank to accept that I hadn't made the purchases.
I've always wondered if it's a coincide that Paypal, Square, Google Wallet, Apple Pay etc. are all US-based, or whether it's because they don't address a significant pain point this side of the Atlantic.
France doesn't really make a difference between "credit card" and "debit card": it's essentially an implementation detail of your card's contract, the former is called "deferred debit" and the latter is called "immediate debit" (or "direct debit").
I believe the latter is indeed much more common than the former (and the default), but even it can have credit-ish characteristics in the form of overdraft (with variable depth and interests, and banks may waive part of the overdraft fees under a certain amount, mine did when I was there).
My point was more about card-based payments in general (as opposed to cash, bank transfer or cheques) than specifically credit-card and cards are definitely extremely common in france (though not absolutely ubiquitous).
We're spending money that hasn't been earned yet, and there is a lot of space to disrupt that as the industry is held by legacy companies who give out credit.
To an extent, overdraft is a thing on debit cards.
> We're spending money that hasn't been earned yet, and there is a lot of space to disrupt that as the industry is held by legacy companies who give out credit.
But Square isn't in that business, they're in the business of ferrying money between the consumer and the provider of goods and services.
This differs a lot within Europe. In Scandinavia cash is really uncommon.
EDIT: Ok, so you're talking about debit versus credit card? That's a different story but then I don't understand how you see Square as US centric. It applies to debit cards as well as credit cards. The reason it won't work in Europe is because most countries here require chip (see iZettle for a competitor with support for chip).
I guess what's more difficult for me to understand is the value surrounding wiring money. My bank in the Netherlands doesn't charge me a fee to withdraw money at any ATM in the world and I can transfer to any European account given the IBAN free of charge too.
So just curious as to what pain point Square and other payment companies serve in that case.
I think that's the rule rather than the exception.
This means that if your bank charges 0€ for national transfers, it cannot charge for SEPA ones (the ones with IBAN). But it could in theory charge for national and SEPA wires.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_Euro_Payments_Area#Misco...