That said, the company has not given up on mobile payments and intends to try again with a new app.
Square has announced that it is giving up on its mobile wallet app and that it is taking the app down because it simply didn’t catch on among consumers, despite the fact that it was first introduced back in 2011.
The app was designed to help local merchants to offer a fast and easy mobile payments solution to customers.
However, even among the merchants that did adopt the use of the mobile payment app, it still simply didn’t catch on at a large enough scale to make it worth continued pursuit. Despite the fact that even Starbucks was using it – a company that has become known as a glowing example of just how effective mobile wallet apps and services can be – the Square option simply didn’t make its way into mainstream adoption. As the Starbucks app had already achieved popularity, those interested in paying with their smartphones were happy to continue with that habit and weren’t interested in looking at an alternative.
The Square mobile wallet never achieved the success and momentum of that company’s credit card reader.
That credit card reader has already proven itself to be a considerable hit among small businesses. The company has, therefore, pulled the mobile payments app from both Google Play and the Apple App Store. Equally, though, Square has not given up on mobile payments, altogether.
The company rapidly replaced the wallet app with a brand new one that is called Square Order. This is a new form of wallet application that has been in the testing phase for a number of months. Though its design isn’t wholly different from the previous version, it has been considerably simplified and streamlined to eliminate all of the excess and unneeded elements of the software, so that it has become easier for merchants and consumers, alike.
Square Order is now presenting a new mobile wallet opportunity that allows consumers to skip the lines at local businesses by ordering ahead and paying through the use of the device. This way, a notification is sent when the order is ready and it can then be picked up right away.