Square payment volume up 25 per cent since March

On course to transact $5 billion this year.

Square's peripheral plugs into the headphone jack of a smartphone or tablet and lets any merchant process credit payments from that device. No need for expensive POS readers.

In an interview with Bloomberg, the firm claims that its growth this year has prompted it to revise upwards its expectations for the year from $4bn in transactions to $5bn.

Square is truly putting a rocket up the in-store payment reader space by bringing credit card payments to a vast army of merchants and traders that aren't served by the traditional providers. However, it has been adopted by mainstream retailers including Wal-Mart and Target.

More than one million are using Square now. They all like the product not just because of the cost of equipment, but also the terms of business. Square returns revenue to merchant before 5pm on the next business day, compared with as many as five days out for other processors.

Square's growth has compelled Intuit to launch a rival product, while last month PayPal moved in with its PayPal Here dongle.

The firm was created by Jack Dorsey, the co-founder of Twitter and its investors in Square include Sequoia Capital and Khosla Ventures.

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