Payments company and media darling Square is on the move. The company made two major announcements this week. Square’s service is now live in Canada, and the company will move a short distance to new office space in San Francisco in mid-2013.
The company has grown from around 150 employees to more than 400 in the past year, and plans to exceed 1,000 by the end of 2013. Square also recently acquired design firm 80/20, which gives it office space in New York City, and just finished a new round of funding, netting $200 million. The company is valued at approximately $3.25 billion.
Two million US businesses use Square, for a total of $8 billion in payments.
Square’s 2.75% fee will not change in the Great White North. The move to Canada brings Square from mag stripe territory into chip-and-PIN (EMV) territory.
Will this result in a design change to Square’s iconic dongle? In the future, the dongle may not be necessary should contactless payments or mobile wallets become universal, and Square is prepared with its mobile wallet product, Square Wallet, which is also heading north.