All Things D is reporting Square has received approval from The New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission to test a new in-taxi payment/entertainment system. The pilot will be in 30 taxis.
According to the report, the testing phase will begin sometime in the next few weeks.
The approval is a nice win for Square. The company presented its plan to the TLC to replace Taxi TVs, the integrated payment/entertainment consoles mounted in the back seats of city taxis. Square would like to replace the TVs with embedded tablet computers that would be loaded with entertainment and games as well as Square's mobile POS app to handle credit card transactions.
Taxi TVs are currently controlled by VeriFone Media, a subsidiary of Square's POS competitor Verifone, and Creative Mobile Technologies. The systems combine video and information screens with the ability to collect fares through an integrated credit card reader.
For more on this, visit the POS research center.
