Square Up POS app

I have previously written about mobile payment options for merchants provided by the major banks and PayPal. In this edition I am going to discuss another point of sale solution which provides a lot of functionality for a shopfront.

Square Up is an online provider for payments and point of sale. They started with an Apple only app but have now expanded that to Android devices. The square app can accept payments through these devices using a card reader which you can purchase from them ($59 for the contactless card reader or $19 for the chip reader). Credit card payments processed through Square attract a flat rate 1.9% fee. The benefit of square though is not just in the card processing. In fact, you don't even need to use the payment gateway to access the extensive features of the point of sale app.

The app provides extensive ability for creating shop items and can track insights on purchases and repeat customers (if the details are added). Customer feedback is incorporated into the receipts provided via sms or email. If you already have a payment gateway then you can record the transaction as a paid item and this is tracked against your sales.

Logging into the Square Up web portal provides details on sales history and sales items. This is a very useful resource for small businesses as it provide insight into the top sales items and sales times as well as a number of other metrics. It is also possible to expand the solution to multiple locations (if you have a number of shopfronts).

Square Up also provide an employee management function for $3 per month per employee. Employees can log their time into the app and it also allows restriction of access to certain functions per employee. This may be useful for more complex businesses that have multiple employees.

So for a free app it provides a lot of functionality and can either be used as your payment gateway provider or with an existing provider if you have one. For more information go to the Square Up site at squareup.com.

Anti Virus and Privacy

It is common these days for software to be available for free. While this has made it easier to access software, vendors still need a business model that generates revenue for them to support the development and maintenance of these products. Anti virus products have followed this trend and there are now a number of free and paid products available. Most of these free products work on the basis that you get basic real time scanning protection with additional functionality available as paid options. Yet these products have deep access to the operating systems and as a result are capable of gathering a lot of information about your computer. The information they gather can be used for marketing purposes and this is of commercial value. Some vendors bundle 3rd party products into their installations to make the products commercially viable. So the question becomes how is your personal information used by these vendors?

AV comparative's performed analysis of 21 anti virus products and documented the results in their Data transmission in Internet security products report (http://www.av-comparatives.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/avc_datasending_2014_en.pdf). To evaluate how well the products rated on information disclosure, they reviewed the privacy policy and the end user license agreements (EULA), monitored the information that was sent from the computer and sent a questionnaire to the vendors asking for details of the information that is captured by their products. The information was then collated and vendors were rated on the level of protection provided for user privacy. It should be noted that AV vendors do require some information in order to manage their product licenses and to improve virus detection rates. The main concern though is if that personal information is collated and sold on for marketing purposes. As an example, web sites can be tracked by AV software to ensure that known malicious sites are blocked. Yet it is also possible that this information can be kept and data mined by the vendor.

The AV products that were rated best with respect to personal information disclosure were:

1. AhnLab
2. Emsisoft
3. eScan
4. BullGuard
5. Fortinet

Products rated the worst (or vendors did not disclose what information they kept):

1. McAfee
2. Microsoft
3. Symantec
4. Trend Micro
5. Webroot
6. AVG

There were many products that had a mixed rating for personal information disclosure. The products rated best for privacy considerations overall were:

1. AhnLab
2. Avira
3. eScan
4. Fortinet
5. Panda

It should be noted that this report was release in 2014 so may be out of date with respect to the latest product versions. In general, it is worth reading through the EULA and privacy policies to understand how your information can and will be used by the vendors. Also be wary of any 3rd party software that is bundled with the free AV product as this may disclose your personal information too. It is usually best to untick the box for add-ons and other products when installing these products. While privacy seems to be a commodity we are happy to trade for free stuff, it is worth considering the implications of what is done with your information. If you are interested in how you can better safe guard your online information take a look at the EFF's surveillance self-defense site at https://ssd.eff.org/en.

Paper replacement apps

Despite the promises of a paperless office it seems that we are printing and producing more paper documents than ever. I don't think that will change any time soon but there some apps that can be used to replace the handy paper pad. I have been trying out a few apps that are suitable for a Windows 10 tablet with a stylus. There are a number of options available from the Windows Store, but I have whittled down the choices to three apps: Nebo, Bamboo Paper and Graphiter.

Nebo, by MyScript, is my favourite as a paper notebook replacement. You can organise your notebooks into folders and create separate notebooks for different uses. One of the best features is that Nebo can convert your handwriting into text. It does this on the fly and seems to be very accurate, even with my scratchy handwriting. You can also draw boxes and shapes in diagram mode as well as math formulas. This can all be exported to Word for further editing purposes. I did find that the layout of converted text can be tricky to manage but this is not a big deal if you export it.

Bamboo Paper, by Wacom (who are known for digital pen editing), is a worthy mention. For simple note taking, this a very useful app. It doesn’t provide text recognition but it is easy to use and feels very natural when writing. Paid features allow you to add highlighters, crayons and paintbrushes as well as a variety of colours for each of these tools. This is handy if you want to use the app for sketching and drawing as well as note taking. This is a good all round pen app but if you want a specialised sketching app then Graphiter may be a better choice.

Graphiter provides a pencil for free use but the value of the app comes from the paid options. This allows you to use coloured pencils, pens and a blending tool. The ability of this app is only limited by your own sketching prowess. The demo shows very detailed real life drawings that are possible with the app. You can customise the heaviness of the pencil as well as the pencil width to allow for detailed sketching.

Overall I have found that Windows 10 tablet mode with a stylus is very useful and there are many choices of apps to make the most of this mode. For further information follow the links below.

http://myscript.com/nebo/

http://bamboo.wacom.com/

http://graphiter.com/

Broadband for Regional Areas

Broadband (or internet access) can be delivered in a variety ways. These are ADSL, Cable, Fibre, Wireless (fixed or mobile) or Satellite. In regional areas, the nbn network is providing a wider range of choice when it comes to Internet service providers. This is because nbn is the wholesaler and they sell access on to retail service providers (RSPs). Your location will determine what is available. To see if you are able to access the nbn network go to nbn.com.au and enter your address to check nbn coverage. Most properties will be able to access nbn's satellite service (Sky Muster) but if you are in a townsite or a new development you may have other options. Smaller towns (up to 500 premises) will get fixed wireless. Larger communities may get wired options which can be comprised of many different technologies.  Regardless of the technology used, connection speeds will be a minimum of 12Mbps which is suitable for web browsing and email. This is also equivalent to many ADSL services that people are currently using. Faster connections will allow for video streaming (netflix etc.) and better online gaming performance. Speeds can go up to 25, 50 and 100 Mbps but this will depend on the technology that is available in your area.  

Another factor to consider when choosing an internet plan is the amount of that that is included in your plan. If you want to be able to stream movies or have a lot of people in the house that will be using the internet, then you are better off choosing a more expensive plan that includes enough data for your usage. There are many RSPs to choose from so compare the plans and determine what you will need for the best deal.

http://www.nbnco.com.au

http://www.nbnco.com.au/learn-about-the-nbn/speed/understanding-speed-and-data.html

Professional Email Management

Email has become one of the most common methods communicating electronically. It is fairly instant and easy to do. Emails do have some limitations as it is not easy to know if your email has reached the intended audience or whether they have acted upon it. It can also be tricky to manage email addresses and communication preferences. The Spam Act 2003 prohibits the sending of unsolicited emails so it is important that organisations manage recipients' communication preferences. Fortunately there are some solutions available to make email management easier and more professional. MailChimp is one of the leaders in this field. They offer a free service that allows up to 2000 subscribers and 12,000 emails a month. Paid plans allow customisations and greater subscriber and email numbers.

To use MailChimp you need to create an account and fill in details about your organisation. This is used in correspondence so is important to supply correct information. Once the account is correctly setup you can then start creating campaigns. Campaigns are like an email message. MailChimp offers a range of preconfigured templates for you to layout your message. Putting some pictures and making the email look interesting helps with subscriber engagement. You can add in fields for names and addresses which allows you to customise the email for each subscriber. MailChimp has a comprehensive help system to guide you with this. Once you have created your campaign you can then test it with a preview. To send your campaign you will need to create a subscriber list. This contains all the email addresses of the people you want to communicate with. You can then send your campaign to the list. At this point you can then track how many subscribers have opened the email and if they clicked any links that were in the email. You can also tell if people have unsubscribed. MailChimp also allows you to create a form for signing up subscribers from a website. The system is fairly easy to use so take a look at http://mailchimp.com/ for more info.

Mobile point of sale

Last month I wrote about making purchases using your smartphone. This month I am looking at how merchants can receive payments anywhere by using a mobile payment device. These devices are the size of a small phone and can accept payment from credit cards, either by contactless, swiping or manual card number entry. The main difference between the traditional EFTPOS card devices (which you use at shops) and a mobile payment device is that it can be used anywhere, as it connects through a phone or tablet to perform transactions. Mobile payment devices can be purchased from the major banks (costing between $100 to $200). Banks charge either a monthly fee, which includes a certain number of transactions, or a pay as you go (PAYG) model, where transaction fees are deducted from each sale (typically around 1.5% to 2%). Fees will vary so it is worth shopping around.

I purchased a Paypal Here mobile card reader. This uses a PAYG fee system and the card reader cost $150, which can be purchased online or from Officeworks. This works well for low cost or intermittent transactions as there are no monthly fees to be paid. A verified business account is required in order to register for the Paypal Here account. You can link your existing bank account to this Paypal account. Transactions are performed in Paypal and funds can be transferred to your linked bank account, although this can take a few days. Once your Paypal Here account is approved, you can download and sign in to the Paypal Here app on your smartphone or tablet. The app will communicate with the card reader via bluetooth. To make a sale, enter the details through the app and then charge it to the connected device. The customer will then use their card on the device to pay and this is then confirmed through the app on the smartphone. Once the transaction is approved there is the option to send a receipt via SMS or email. If the customer's credit card is linked to Paypal, then the email or mobile number will come up automatically, but the customer does not need a Paypal account to use the service. Note that Paypal Here only accepts credit cards and can't be used for cash accounts.

I have found that customers often like the convenience of being able to pay by credit card, so the cost and effort of setting up a mobile payment system is worthwhile for me. It is a good idea to research options that are suitable for your situation. For more information, follow the links below.

https://www.westpac.com.au/business-banking/merchant-services/mobile-payments/mpos-1/
https://www.paypal.com/au/webapps/mpp/accept-mobile-payments

Paying with your Phone

The time is approaching where all you will need to take with you on your shopping trip is your smart phone and car keys. The ability to pay for transactions through your phone is becoming a reality as the current generation of smart phones have the hardware to support this process, using Near Field Communication (NFC) technology. This allows for contactless payments in the same way you currently use your credit card.  Android phones (Samsung, HTC, Nexus etc.) can use the Android Pay service which supports any Android device with the NFC chip and Android KitKat. This opens up the majority of the smart phone market. Apple have an equivalent service, Apple Pay, which works on iPhone 6 and later models. While the smart phones may have the hardware and software to run the service, it also requires the retailers and banks to offer the payment solutions. In Australia, Android Pay rolled out to over 30 banks and financial institutions in July, although of the big four banks, only the ANZ have signed up with the other stated as coming soon. Apple Pay, by contrast, is currently only supported by ANZ bank and American Express. The reason for this is that Apple only allow access to card payments through the Apple Wallet. The banks are arguing that this limits choice as they would prefer to be able to use their own apps to access payments (which is allowed on the Android Pay service). The major banks have even applied to the ACCC to allow them to bargain with Apple as a cartel, but this is currently under review. This is a major issue for banks as they charge over $3 billion a year for processing credit and debit card transactions.  

To setup the pay service on your Android phone download the Android Pay app and run through the card setup process. This involves taking a photo of your card and confirming your details. You may need to download your bank's app for verification of your bank details. Once this is completed, you can then use the phone at contactless terminals for payment. Your card details are kept secure as a virtual account is used and not your card info when making payments. On an iPhone you add your credit card details to the Wallet built into iOS. You are required to unlock the phone or use Touchid when making payments. You can also use your Apple watch for payment (which requires unlocking the screen to allow payments). Your credit card details are kept secure through a unique device account number that is allocated to each card in your Wallet. This is used instead of the card details when making purchases.  

While it is still in the early stage, I predict that mobile payments will eventually remove the need for physical credit cards in the future. Just as smart phones have replaced the need for a camera, the payment apps will eventually replace the need to carry a credit card. 

https://www.android.com/intl/en_au/pay-supported-networks/

http://www.apple.com/au/apple-pay/

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-08-19/accc-apple-pay/7765994