Square launched their Mobile Card Reader in Canada on October 24th. This was their first market outside the of U.S. and a welcomed addition to the mobile scene as any individual or business owners could easily and securely start accepting payments from their device (iPhone, iPad, or Android).
Square has finally released a some Canadian stats. In an email to us Square stated that the combined number of signups for both the U.S. and Canada total 3 million. Clearly more activations are in the States, but comparing to four months after their October 2010 launch, Square is “seeing more activations in Canada at this time than we did in the U.S., with an adoption rate that is 25% higher per capita.”
Back in November Square declared they were processing $10 billion a year in mobile transactions. Considering Canada was only live for a month our contribution wasn’t that high. However, now a few months in surely we’ve reached a respectable number. Unfortunately, Square didn’t comment on where the total transaction numbers are now, but did say that the average transaction size (Gross Payment Value) in Canada is $120, compared to $70 in the States. The users of Square in Canada are typically “services and retailers,” such as accounting, legal services, and consulting, while in the United States it’s individuals and food trucks/carts.
We reached out to Square for more insight into what’s next. We can expect Square Wallet to arrive this year, but they’re not committing to a specific time. In addition, Square is “always looking for new ways to make commerce easy, but we have nothing to announce” regarding a BlackBerry or Windows Phone app.
