Merchants Promoting Apple Pay Get a Break on Square Fees

Apple and Square have come up with a new plan to promote Apple Pay through smaller merchants: Square’s processing fee will now be waved for up to $12,000 in Apple Pay transactions, saving merchants up to $350.

In return, merchants need to promote Apple Pay as a payment option by setting up a small display alongside Square’s NFC reader, and sending photographic proof of their efforts to Square. But Square has accordingly reduced the cost of its reader device to $29, on a temporary basis, to further nudge merchants to take advantage of the opportunity.

It’s the latest development in a longstanding partnership, with Square having launched an Apple Pay-compatible POS reader back in the autumn of 2015, and enabled Apple Pay through its digital debit cards this past December.

This latest promotional effort arrives amid calls for Apple to increase the compatibility of its mPayment platform with retailers. A recent report from consumer spending analysis firm TXN indicated that the platform is growing modestly, but still appears to make up only a small percentage of all credit card-based transactions in the US.

Sources: AppleInsider, TechCrunch