[pja]

"We'll lose money on every transaction, but make it up on volume!"

I'm going to optimistically assume that Square have run the numbers and this deal is worth the price though. As a marketing exercise alone it could be worth a fortune if it ends up putting Square's branding in every Starbucks.

[ceejayoz]

> As a marketing exercise alone it could be worth a fortune if it ends up putting Square's branding in every Starbucks.

Very much so. People who see a Square dongle at the farmers' market will now go "oh, I saw that at Starbucks", not "that guy might steal my credit card with that".

[jeffgreco]

Starbucks won't be using any Square dongles. I'd imagine there will be a small sticker at their normal POS. src: http://www.splatf.com/2012/08/starbucks-square-payments/

[ceejayoz]

Whether it's a dongle or a logo, the benefit is still essentially the same - recognition of it as a payment brand on par with Visa/Mastercard.