Mobile payments solutions provider Square introduced a free point-of-sale application for Apple's (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPad, which the company said is a full-featured, touch-enabled retail checkout alternative, capable of replacing a traditional cash register and credit-card terminal.

The Square Register app is designed to offer businesses new tools to manage sales, check daily transactions, update pricing, automate checkout, generate digital receipts and maintain virtual storefronts. Using the new Tabs feature, customers can create and store a digital profile complete with photo, enabling merchants to verify their identity and approve a purchase with one touch, effectively rendering cash and plastic obsolete in the process.

In addition, Square Register's location-based Directory feature allows customers to find nearby merchants, while Menus gives retailers and restaurants the flexibility to promote daily specials, current menus and trending items in real time.

Square also introduced Card Case, a new iPhone and Android app update offering customers access to the Directory and Menus features. Card Case users can also open Tabs with their favorite businesses.

Square enables small businesses and other users to accept credit and debit purchases by swiping cards through a small dongle that plugs into the device's audio jack. The service promises users no contracts, monthly fees or hidden costs.

For more:
- see this release

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