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Mobile payments capabilities through Square expand with gift cards

Rebecca | April 5, 2013

The latest update of the wallet app is designed to make it easier for givers and receivers.

Square Wallet has just announced that its mobile payments app has a new update that will make it simpler for its users to be able to purchase and to exchange gift cards for participating retailers.

This latest update is available for the application designed for both Android and iOS devices.

The announcement stated that Square gift cards can be sent directly from the purchaser’s smartphone or tablet, directly to the recipient. It is reported to function immediately through the electronic receipt that is sent to the purchaser (the giver) from merchants who accept mobile payments through the Square Wallet program.

This is an important step for Square in its gift card mobile payments offerings as it could expand its own use.

The mobile payments app first started its compatibility with gift cards in December of last year, just in time for the heart of the last minute holiday shopping rush. This provided merchants with the ability to offer electronic gift cards to consumers, who could then redeem them using their smartphone and tablet devices.

Participating retailers enjoyed this capability as it gave them the opportunity to offer these gift cards without having to rely on a third party provider for the plastic cards and redemption systems.

This latest update to the mobile payments app allows consumers to both buy the gift cards and send them directly to the recipients through the receipt that they receive electronically from the merchant. The Wallet company feels that this is an important step for providing convenience to the users of the service.

However, there is also a great deal of benefit to be had for Square, itself, if the program should take off. To the company, the true benefit isn’t necessarily convenience as much as the fact that if a recipient would like to be able to receive the gift card, then he or she will be required to download the mobile payments app and then use it when making a purchase. Potentially, this could expand the downloading and the use of the smartphone wallet service as consumers purchase and send gift cards to one another.

QR codes on pajamas unveiled by man from Idaho Falls

Rebecca | April 3, 2013

Each set has nearly fifty different barcodes that can be scanned using smartphones and tablets.

A realtor from Idaho Falls, Idaho, has used QR codes in order to develop what he has nicknamed “Smart PJs”, which allow kids to be able to enjoy bedtime a little bit more through the use of a smartphone and their jammies.

The man behind the development of this new use for the barcodes is named Juan Murdoch.

Murdoch explained his creation by saying that “It’s a new spin on pajamas. Pajamas have been around for thousands of years and this is something new.” As a realtor, not an inventor, creating uses for QR codes is far from his primary occupation. However, he explained that the idea of pajamas that could tell a child a bedtime story, or sing a lullaby for a little boy or girl simply made its way into his head, one day, and he just went with it.

The QR codes on the pajamas provide a number of different experiences, not just a single song or story.

Murdoch explained that he’s not certain whether or not it was the “dad in me” that helped him to come up with the creative use for the QR codes. He explained that “I’ve got six kids. My wife and I have 6 kids and so I know how important a bedtime story is.”

The pajamas are designed with colorful dots all over them. Though they may simply look like bright and fun sleepwear, the dots are actually QR codes that can be scanned, for free, using the Smart PJs application, on an Android or iOS smartphone. Each set of pajamas has nearly 50 different dots, each with its own unique story or song.

Once the QR codes have been scanned, the tablet or smartphone reads a book, sings a lullaby, or even tells the child a number of interesting facts about various animals. Depending on the code that is scanned, the result is different.

Murdoch has explained that he is “proud” of his invention. He explained that it brought out the sense of pride that he feels in being able to “bring that technology and something unique to Idaho” and that he feels that it is “kind of cool”.