by Hans Eisenbeis
WHAT’S HAPPENING
- SittingAround.com, a Boston-based social network that connects parents with able and qualified babysitters, is giving a free Square dongle — the plug-and-play swipe-card reader that facilitates easy P2P payments via smartphone — to babysitters who sign up to be members of the network (TechCrunch.com, 25 May 2012). That will allow parents to pay their sitters with credit or debit cards rather than cash.
- Nothing puts a pinch on date night quite like the hunt for an ATM (and then a convenience store in order to break a $20), and babysitters who can accept cards are able to offer their clients more flexibility.
WHAT THIS MEANS TO BUSINESS
- In the payments space, more options are always better, and Square has helped pioneer non-cash, non-check peer-to-peer transactions.
- Small business and self-employment will continue to drive important tech innovations in the financial space.
RESOURCES
- SittingAround offers free accounts and listings to babysitters and their clients in six US cities: Boston, Seattle, Washington, DC, New York, Chicago and Philadelphia.
