Branson enters mobile payments space

The Wall Street Journal reports.

Square recently closed a $100 million Series-C financing round, led by Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers.

Branson took interest in Square's rapid growth and, in particular, its free hardware that allows anyone to accept credit card payments, anywhere, anytime.

He says in a press statement: “I'm very passionate about helping people start and grow successful businesses, and Square is an incredible technology that inspires and empowers everyone to be an entrepreneur.”

According to The Register, Branson did not disclose the level of investment, but it is believed to be significant.

San Francisco-based Square, which started in 2009, is now valued at around $1 billion, and has shipped over 800 000 of its mobile card readers to businesses across the US.

Branson joins Square's roster of tech investor elite, including former chief advisor to president Barack Obama, Larry Summers, Mary Meeker and Vinod Khosla of Khosla Ventures and Visa.

The LA Times says Square is going up against heavyweights such as Google, MasterCard, PayPal and an alliance of AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon in the quickly growing mobile wallet space that allows users to pay for things with smartphone apps rather than credit cards.

Square's bid in that space is the Square Card Case app, which was recently updated for Apple's iOS 5 operating system to make use of geofencing and location-based technologies.