Square has officially launched the company's new NFC reader at several local businesses in select cities like Chicago and San Francisco. This marks the first time that the reader's been used in the wild, and it's unclear exactly when there'll be a wider release.

Specifically referenced in Square's press release for the new reader as along the 100 local sellers using the wireless reader are "Honey Butter Fried Chicken in Chicago, Philz Coffee in San Francisco, Sump Coffee in St. Louis, Cafe Grumpy in New York City, and all 20+ merchants in the Urbanspace Vanderbilt food hall in New York." There are reportedly dozens of other businesses using the reader, though they're not name-checked.

Initially revealed back in June at WWDC15, Square's new reader supports near-field communication payments, like Apple Pay or Android Pay, via tap and chip cards inserted on the side. Chip cards have been increasingly supported at retailers due to the format slowly replacing the magnetic strip cards most people tend to associate with credit and debit cards. In short, Square's new reader is primed to accept what's likely to become the most popular forms of payments going forward, making it an easy sell to small businesses, and it also still reads magnetic card swipes.

The new NFC reader works with the Square Stand and also connects wirelessly to mobile devices to maintain the sleek form factor of a small, well, square. Anyone who's using the old reader should be able to easily swap in the new one. Interested parties can reserve their own NFC reader for $49 on the company's website.

Source: Square

Via: SlashGear