Collecting Money via iPhone at Concerts

I’ve got this personal pet peeve about carrying cash, that is, I don’t. It creates change, change creates lumpy pockets. So, I prefer to go the debit card route. This isn’t a problem till I come to a show. Not just the small ones either, the big ones where a few artists (indie and signed) have tables but don’t do debit/credit transactions. Sucks, cause I want to purchase then, not in many minutes/hours when browsing iTunes, Amazon, etc.

I know that i am not the only one with this issue. So why aren’t more artists/labels using products like Square to make it easier to do purchases on the fly using your iPhone as the “register?” Less cash counting to worry about, and the rates actually just went down.

Makes sense to me, just wondering, would you (artists) do this? Instead of (or in addition to) having a table, you’d have a street team of folks who’d be able to do this throughout the crowd at certain points. Reduce the friction to purchase and maybe sell a bit more?

*This could also work in other arenas, but had posted this originally at Holy Culture Radio because of the connection to smaller artists and their pains with having a suitable concert solution.