Oh, Canada. You are always behind when it comes to tech. Unless you count the BlackBerry, but who’s counting the BlackBerry these days? Square is a revolutionary (and evolutionary?) payment system that’s rocked the United States. From taxis in NYC to happy hairdressers, this small plastic card reader makes life easier. Now, Square is debuting in the land of snow and ice (wait, that’s a Led Zeppelin song). That’s right, Canada, you can now get your hands around (or in a kind of rectangular shape) Square.

Ready and Waiting

When Square’s founders received $200 million in Series D funding, a promise was made. That promise included spreading the love that is Square internationally this year. Square has made good on that promise. If you own or operate a business in Canada, you can now use Square. Square’s Canadian rates are the same as the company’s U.S. rates: 2.75% every time a card is swiped. If you send your information to Square, you will receive a Square reader for free, and you can also use the Square app.

There’s just one issue. Most credit card transactions in Canada aren’t the swipe kind. Canadians are on the chip-and-pin system for the most part. The Square dongle, however, is of the swipe sort. Square will have to work on this problem in order to appeal to Canadian vendors, and to bring the Square system to the rest of the world too. Some cards in Canada can still be swiped, though, and smaller business owners will love how easy Square is to use. There’s also one additional part of the equation, and that part comes in three sizes: mezzo, grande, and venti.

Square and Starbucks: A Happy Couple

Square and Starbucks teamed up in the states. So, it’s fairly easy to assume that the duo will do business together in Canada as well. Starbucks is going strong in most Canadian cities (take that, Tim Horton’s!), and it won’t be a huge shock if Starbucks patrons can soon use the Starbucks app in conjunction with the Square payment system to pay for a cappuccino or extra foamy skinny vanilla latte.

Some sources say that Starbucks and Square are so deeply intertwined that soy Frappuccino sippers may not even have to swipe anything. The whole payment system may be of the electronic sort – not a wallet to be seen, just loads of iPhones and iPads!

Needless to say, Square is a company that’s going strong. It may even be one of the most successful startups of all time. It will be interesting to see whether or not Square fixes that swipe problem and comes up with a pin-and-chip reader for the rest of the world.

There’s little doubt that the masterminds behinbehind Square are working on this problem as you’re reading my carefully crafted article. If you are a Canadian business owner and you don’t want to pay Interac, Visa, MasterCard, or other company to take credit cards, here’s how you can use Square: go to the Square website, order a card reader (free); download the Square app from the App Store or Google Play (also free); make your clients happy by taking credit card payments – finally!