Square’s New Merchant Case Is Just Ugly

Mobile payments company Square introduced a new Merchant Case at the Consumer Electronic Show in Las Vegas yesterday and, boy, is it ugly. It’s that oddly-shaped black piece of rubber wrapped around the iPhone at left.

This is not just some device built by a third-party that accommodates Square’s reader — Square was on board with this. It is part of a wider initiative to serve merchants in partnership with hardware makers, and reinforces that Square itself has gone beyond being merely a hardware company.

Designed to “enhance both performance and convenience for merchants selling on the go with Square” and to keep the white dongle from sliding around as the card is swiped, the case was created in partnership with Griffin Technology, a maker of mobile phone cases and charging systems.

Griffin makes a wide variety of cases primarily for iOS devices, so they’re no stranger to design-conscious consumers. But with the Merchant Case it seems no consideration was given to Square’s normally fastidious aesthetic beyond making a dongle-shaped indent in the black rubber case.

Square recently designed its dongle to make it more functional. Its Square Stand product was designed in-house and was quickly mimicked by products such as First Data’s Clover Station.

The case is said to protect against drops and looks sturdy enough. It also contains a storage slot in back where the Square Reader can be stowed when not in use. It does not seem to offer additional battery life, which is perhaps the most compelling reason (after protecting the phone) to wrap a case this bulky around a smartphone. The case sells for $19.99.

The Merchant Case kicks off the Works with Square program, which the company describes this way:

Square is committed to making business tools accessible and easy to use for every kind of seller. Square’s tools are designed to give businesses effective, efficient, and seamless solutions for everything from accepting payments to managing their back office. And now, Works with Square accessories allow customers access to more products that meet the most specific needs of their business.

So we can expect more devices built around the dongle and Square Register products.

Nick Holland, senior analyst with Javelin Strategy & Research, told Bank Innovation that Square is looking to the future and moving beyond just swiping cards. “The cash cow card swipe business may not survive the shift to EMV in the US and the associated costs in hardware upgrade.” Instead, Square needs to look to enterprise clients, not just the on-the-go merchant that helped launch the company.

We hope the next generation of items the Works with Square program looks better than this one. If not, it might start negatively affecting Square’s brand, in which aesthetics play such an important part.