Mobile Payment Start-up Square Set To Close Deal With Burberry - Report

Mobile payment start-up Square has its first luxury-brand partner all but squared away, a report from The Next Web said on Wednesday.

The report said that Square and Burberry, a high-end clothing retail chain, are currently testing out a partnership to use the San Francisco-based tech company's mobile payment processing services in stores nationwide. Citing people familiar with the matter, The Next Web said that an official announcement will be coming soon.

Last week, Burberry chief technology officer John Douglas all but revealed the news on Twitter.

“#Square live in live in our #Burberry Brit store in #sanfrancisco,” Douglas wrote.

“Love it @jack,” he concluded -- mentioning Dorsey himself, who recently stepped down from an operational role at Twitter to focus solely on his work as the founder and CEO of Square.

Partnering with high-end brands could help any tech company with an ambitious concept gain prestige, though doing so may not reach the largest possible audience as quickly as possible. But even then, Square has already enjoyed strong growth in recent months. Late in October, the company made its first steps toward gaining international audiences when it announced it would bring its mobile payment service to Canada. Early in November, the company finalized a deal with Starbucks (Nasdaq: SBUX), the world’s largest coffee chain, to bring its service to 7,000 retail locations across the U.S. Little more than a week later, Square revealed that it is now processing $10 million annually in transactions, an $8 million increase from October 2011.

Dorsey is well known as a very fashion-friendly tech icon, speaking in many magazine profiles such as Wired’s about his admiration for particular designers.