Obama, Romney Campaigns Adopt Mobile Payments For Donations

Square's Card Case app eliminates fumbling for money at your favorite local joints. Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.com

We're about 10 months away from the presidential election, and grassroots fundraising is kicking into high gear. For the first time ever, smartphone-enabled mobile payments are playing into fundraising schemes, both for Republican and Democrat presidential hopefuls.

Both the Obama and Romney campaigns will be using the Square iOS payment dongle to process campaign donations during canvassing efforts. In fact, the Obama administration announced Monday that it would be using the Square mobile payments platform with its own personalized Obama Square app.

"Eventually we want to make a version of the Obama Square application available to everyone from within the App Store," Katie Hogan, an Obama re-election campaign spokesperson told The New York Times. "Someone who is a supporter of the campaign can then download the app, get a Square attachment and can go around collecting donations." The app will collect information such as the donor's name, address, occupation and employer.

A representative of Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney told the Times that Romney's campaign will begin beta-testing Square during Tuesday's primary election in Florida.

"We're going to be testing it in Florida tomorrow night to see how it works and then hope to roll it out to the rest of the country," Zac Moffatt, the Romney campaign's digital director said. "Anything that reduces the barrier to donate is going to help us with our supporters."

The Obama campaign and administration has embraced technology to a much greater degree than most past presidents, and is also leveraging social media, a tool that wasn't even available prior to the George W. Bush administration. In 2008, Obama complemented his presidential campaign with an iPhone app in order to help voters learn more about the then-senator. After he was elected, the president then began posting regular YouTube fireside chats, harkening back to FDR's radio-transmitted fireside chats during the Great Depression. Most recently, Obama even took part in a Google+ Hangout.

Square had this to say about politicians jumping on the Square train:

"Whether you're a Republican or a Democrat, running for president or local assembly, Square makes it easier than ever for candidates, organizations and volunteers to fundraise for their cause."

Although Square has been used for fundraising in political campaigns before, this is the first time it's been implemented on a national scale.

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Original Page: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2012/01/square-presidential-campaign/

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