If you think your payment system is restricted to a retail environment or an internet transaction, think again: Square can now accept payments for you anywhere, anytime. Small and medium business owners can now sell their products and services anywhere they’d like with the new mobile platform for payments.

Square has made an easy to use system, but it’s not one that customers are wholly familiar with because, simply, there is a lack of a traditional cash register. However, like the traditional payment method, a card is collected from the customer and swiped through a small machine – only the machine can be hooked up to virtually any smart phone or tablet. If the card is accepted, the customer can then use the tip of their finger or a stylus to sign and leave a tip from the card. This allows transactions to be done at the table within moments – Square even sends an electronic receipt to the customer’s e-mail or phone once the transaction has cleared. This also clears up the need to ever keep track of paper receipts when there is an issue with something and something needs to be returned for any reason – and it saves on paper, too.

It doesn’t matter what industry you’re in – you can use Square. However, the application is targeted at a particular audience, like people who sell at street markets or craft fairs, but the technology may also become a staple in the restaurant environment as well. When you sign up for the service, you receive the reader that attaches to your smart device for free, and the application is simple to install on any machine. The transaction, once it clears, is added to a comprehensive list of transactions that has been conducted by the business – and Square has even worked out a deal so any credit card can be swiped.

The only down side: the cost per transaction. Square takes a 2.75{7e4ee7cd997d36f6dec43befd6b19c37edf0959bbf61766e988f901dd91e96d7} charge off the top whenever a card is swiped, and if you had to manually enter a transaction – that is, you typed in the numbers – your fee is boosted to a whopping 3.5{7e4ee7cd997d36f6dec43befd6b19c37edf0959bbf61766e988f901dd91e96d7} plus an extra .15 per transaction. What’s left will automatically be sent to the bank account you hooked up to Square when you set it up in the first place.

Square even offers a ‘loyalty platform’ that merchants devoted to the program can use. “Pay with Square” provides rewards to frequent customers and top spenders, and merchants can define the kind of reward they want to give out, including discounts and coupon codes.

Square’s technology has been around for awhile, however, it is the first of its kind to charge under 5{7e4ee7cd997d36f6dec43befd6b19c37edf0959bbf61766e988f901dd91e96d7} per transaction, making it a more affordable choice for any small business owner.