Viva la Payments: 5 Startups Poised to Revolutionize (or Kill) the Credit Card Industry

2. Square

Square aims to provide a faster and more personal way to pay via a suite of products that enables small businesses to accept credit cards payments on an Android, iPhone or iPad with the free Square Card Reader. Square register also provides everything you need to start, run and grow your business all in one free iPad app. And customers can pay with Square on an iPhone or Android, so they’ll never have to swipe a credit card again.

3. Dwolla

Dwolla offers an online cash-inspired payment network that that works with your financial institution to offer a cheaper, safer, and overall better payment experience. It allows you to exchange money for goods and services without credit card fees, merchant fees, credit issues, and cost issues associated with traditional payments.

4. Stripe

Aims to make it easier to accept online payments without a merchant account or gateway. Stripe handles everything, including storing cards, subscriptions, and direct payouts to your bank account. Stripe’s pricing starts at 2.9% + 30 cents per successful charge with no setup fees, no monthly fees, no card storage fees, no hidden costs: you only get charged when you earn money.

5. Venmo

Venmo is the first and only social payment service that offers a free way to send payments from your phone. Use the Venmo app on your iPhone, Android, computer, or any mobile device with SMS. With Venmo, you can instantly send cash to another mobile phone and leave personal notes and comments with every payment you make, share payments with friends on Venmo’s social network, or post them to other networks, such as Facebook, Foursquare, and Twitter.

How do you accept payments? Do these startups stand a chance? Let us know in the comments section below.

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Photo Credit: Crane Brothers