Card Case

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Square updated its “Card Case” app with a new design, new name, and a shiny new icon (literally) less than a week after PayPal announced its triangular Square competitor.

Unlike the previous version of the app, which used a credit card metaphor for each store you had an account with, version 2.0, now called “Pay with Square,” uses a list of businesses nearby that accept Square payments and allow you to quickly open a tab at any of them. You can also search a map for nearby Square-compatible businesses and add your favorites to a list for quick and easy access on future visits.

What’s new in Version 2.0, below:

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Square just pushed out quite an interesting update to their Square Card Case that we told you about back in August when it was first released. Taking full advantage of iOS 5’s geofencing capabilities, the updated app can now establish a tab at your favorite retailers when within a virtual boundary of 100 meters, essentially allowing for a frictionless, hands-free payment experience.

Imagine walking by your favorite retail shop and a tab with your name is automatically opened on the merchant’s Square app for iPad, just in case you happen to stop in and make a purchase. If you do stop in to make a purchase, the merchant can authorize the payment using a credit card or debit card already linked to the Card Case app on your iPhone. If you don’t stop at the shop, the tab will automatically be closed once outside of the 100 meter range.

This obviously allows you to bypass the need of removing your phone from your pocket and interacting with the Square card case app to establish a connection with a merchant. You’ll only have to confirm your name, while merchants will use the same authorization methods as before, confirming the user with an image of their face within the Square iPad app. You’ll of course have to authorize which retailers you wants tabs to automatically be opened for first.

Square director of product Megan Quinn had this to say about the new update in an interview (via Wired):

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