Co-founder of social networking site Twitter Jack Dorsey has announced a new start-up named Square that enables customers to accept credit card payments via their smartphones. The start-up comes just as mobile providers are trying to shift people towards mobile financial services.

A small plastic square (hence the name) that inserts into the audio jack has the ability to scan a credit or debit card’s magnetic strip and users can then sign their name on the touchscreen. Like PayPal, the smartphone transmits the payment to the user’s online Square account which is tied to their bank account. So seeing as the new mandatory PCI (Payment Card Industry) requirements apply to any institution that accepts card payments, I wonder if this will affect Square? Hmm.