Ever had difficulty accepting payment because the customer wants to use a credit card? In theory, it should be easy. But as things stand, you need a merchant account plus a swipe machine. And of course the credit card company can often take a significant chunk out of the payment.

So you'll welcome the new 'plug and play' device called Square. It is a free credit card reader that plugs straight into your iPhone, iPad or Android smartphone (More later). There is a simple charge of 15 cents + 2.75% for the service, but no account fees, monthly payment or any other extras. You can track sales, tax and trends automatically and send receipts by email. And it's PCI certified, so it's as secure as you can get.

Just one catch, as far as we can see: It isn't available in the UK yet. But we can see a huge demand for the Square (www.squareup.com) when it arrives. What do you think? Leave your comments below and forward this story by Twitter, Facebook etc to all your contacts to ensure the Square arrives soon!