Agree with our rating?
Tell us about your experience with Square in the comment section below.
(855) 351-2274Company Overview
This article is focused on credit card processing using Square for established businesses and industries, such as retail, food service, and ecommerce. The article provides an in-depth review of Square’s point of sale options and card readers, as well as an analysis of user reviews. It also examines common complaints and fees associated with Square’s credit card processing, comparing them to traditional merchant services companies.
Square’s Card Reader and POS
We will also provide an analysis of Square’s card readers and point-of-sale options, including the Square Reader for contactless and chip as well the company’s retail and restaurant POS. These hardware options are compatible with a range of mobile devices, including smartphones and tablets, making them an attractive option for businesses that require a portable payment processing solution.
Square’s Additional Features and Services
Additionally, we will cover various services provided by Square, such as its Kitchen Display System, Square Terminal, and Integrated Reservation and Waitlist Management. Readers who are interested in Square’s specific services can find more detailed reviews through links provided in the article.
Square User Reviews
User reviews are a crucial factor to consider when choosing a credit card processing provider. This article provides an analysis of user reviews, highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of Square’s services as reported by actual customers. We also cover common complaints about Square’s services, such as issues with customer support, funding holds, and account stability. By highlighting these complaints, we aim to help business owners understand potential pain points and make informed decisions about whether Square is the right provider for them.
Square’s Fees
Fees are an essential consideration when choosing a credit card processing provider. This article provides an analysis of Square’s fees, including transaction fees, chargeback fees, and hardware costs. We’ll compare Square’s fees to those of traditional merchant services companies, providing businesses with a valuable benchmark for evaluating the cost-effectiveness of Square’s services.
Square Review Video Summary
Is Square Holding Your Funds Right Now?
Before we get started, thousands of merchants have reported payments frozen by Square. If you’re one of the business owners that are using Square, then you might find the following resources helpful:
Started By The Original Twitter Founder
Square was founded in 2009 by Jack Dorsey who also founded Twitter before it was bought by Elon Musk. The company grew rapidly and Square became a public company in 2015 under the “SQ” ticker. The Square corporation rebranded to “Block Inc” in 2021 but continues to operate it’s payment processing services under the Square brand. Much of the company’s success can be attributed to its then unique take on smartphone credit card processing (See: Best Mobile Credit Card Processing Apps) and by being the first to market such technology to small businesses owners as well as everyday people.
Quick Sign-up and Intuitive Design
Signing up for Square’s payment processing is simple: users simply visit Square’s website to fill out a short form and await approval, which typically happens instantly. Once approved, users can choose from hardware options such as a card reader that connects to a phone or tablet via Bluetooth, or a from dedicated point-of-sale devices that can be used on a countertop or taken to the customer. Square has been so successful in the mobile credit card processing industry that it has inspired numerous competitors.
Payment Processing Designed for Specific Industries
Square has placed particular attention on common industries with predictable sales patterns and low risk of fraud and chargebacks. Below are the business types that Square targets with its marketing.
Square for Restaurants and Bars
Square offers an extensive suite of services and products for the food and beverage industry, catering to various business types. Below, we explore Square’s specialized features and solutions for quick-service restaurants, full-service restaurants, bars, food trucks, bakeries, and catering services. First we’ll cover features that are found with all the industry specific POS options.
Staffing and Scheduling
Square’s software solutions provide bars and restaurants with tools to manage their unique staffing needs more effectively. Time tracking and role-based permissions are two features that can help businesses manage their workforce more efficiently. Time tracking allows businesses to accurately track employee hours, manage payroll, and ensure compliance with labor laws. Role-based permissions allow businesses to assign different levels of access to employees based on their job responsibilities, ensuring that sensitive information is only accessible to those who need it.
Offline Payment Processing for Uninterrupted Operations
Square’s offline mode is a valuable feature that ensures seamless payment processing even without an internet connection. This feature is particularly useful for businesses that operate in areas with limited connectivity or are prone to internet outages. With offline mode, businesses can continue to process transactions and accept payments without any interruption, reducing the risk of lost sales or dissatisfied customers. When an internet connection becomes available, Square will automatically sync all offline transactions and update the business’s records. This feature provides businesses with peace of mind, knowing that they can continue to operate even in challenging environments. Overall, Square’s offline mode is a useful tool that provides businesses with flexibility, reliability, and seamless payment processing.
Insights into Product Performance and Customer Preferences
Square’s software solutions provide valuable reporting tools that can help restaurants gain insights into their product performance and customer preferences. By tracking sales data, restaurants can identify which menu items are most popular, track inventory levels, and make informed decisions about restocking and pricing strategies. This can help restaurants reduce waste, optimize their menu offerings, and improve their profitability.
In addition, Square’s reporting features can provide restaurants with insights into customer preferences and purchasing behaviors. By analyzing sales data, restaurants can identify trends and patterns in customer behavior, such as peak ordering times or popular menu items. This can help restaurants tailor their offerings to better meet the needs of their customers and improve their overall dining experience.
Customizable Menu Options for Diverse Products
Square’s software solutions offer customizable menu options and item modifiers that provide restaurant owners with the flexibility to manage a wide range of products with ease. These features allow restaurants to modify, add, or remove menu items quickly and efficiently, making it easy to keep menus up to date and to accommodate customer requests. With item modifiers, restaurants can add specific instructions or preferences to menu items, such as cooking preferences or dietary restrictions, improving the dining experience for customers.
Next, we’ll cover features for specific food and beverage businesses.
Quick-Service Restaurants and Cafes:
Speedy Transactions for Fast-Paced Operations
Square Terminal and contactless payments are tools that can be beneficial for quick-service restaurants and cafes. Square Terminal is an all-in-one device that can process transactions, refunds, and print receipts. This device can help businesses save costs and streamline their checkout process. Contactless payments allow customers to pay quickly and securely without exchanging physical cards or handling cash. This not only speeds up the transaction process but also enhances the overall customer experience. Additionally, contactless payments can improve security and protect against fraud as sensitive payment information is encrypted and securely transmitted during the transaction process.
Mobile Ordering and Pickup Options
Square Online provides an option for quick-service restaurants and cafes to offer mobile ordering and pickup to their customers. This feature caters to the on-the-go nature of customers who want to quickly and easily order their food without having to wait in line or be physically present at the location. With Square Online, customers can place their orders remotely, and then pick up their orders at their convenience. This feature provides greater flexibility and convenience to customers, improving their overall experience with the business. For quick-service restaurants and cafes, this feature can help increase sales, reduce wait times, and improve operational efficiency.
Order Management with Kitchen Display System
The Square Kitchen Display System (KDS) is a tool that aims to help quick-service restaurants manage orders efficiently and provide fast service to customers. With the Square KDS, orders are displayed on a digital screen, allowing kitchen staff to prioritize and manage them in real-time. This helps to reduce wait times, increase order accuracy, and improve overall customer satisfaction. The Square KDS also provides features such as order tracking and timers, which can help staff manage their workload and ensure that orders are prepared and delivered in a timely manner. By streamlining the order management process, the Square KDS can help quick-service restaurants improve their operational efficiency, reduce errors, and provide a better experience for their customers.
Full-Service Restaurants:
Table and Floor Plan Management
Square provides a range of features and tools that enable quick-service restaurants to manage their dine-in services more efficiently. One of the key features of Square for restaurants is its comprehensive table and floor plan management tools. With these tools, restaurants can create and manage floor plans, assign tables to servers, and monitor table status in real-time. This allows staff to coordinate their services more effectively, ensuring that tables are assigned to servers efficiently and orders are taken and delivered promptly.
Pay-at-the-Table Functionality
Square Terminal’s pay-at-the-table functionality allows customers to pay for their meals directly at the table with their credit cards. This feature reduces wait times and provides a more secure transaction process.
Integrated Reservation and Waitlist Management
Square’s Integrated Reservation and Waitlist Management system provides quick-service restaurants with a useful tool to manage their reservation and waitlist processes. With this system, restaurants can manage their reservations and waitlists in one place, simplifying the process and reducing errors. Customers can easily make reservations online, and restaurants can manage them with real-time updates, reducing the risk of overbooking or other scheduling conflicts.
Bars and Nightclubs:
Inventory Management Features
Square’s inventory management tools enable bars an nightclubs to track their alcohol and ingredient stock levels. This feature helps businesses monitor their inventory in real-time and ensures that they have enough supplies. Additionally, Square’s inventory management tools provide insights into which items are popular and which ones need to be restocked, allowing bar owners to make informed decisions about their inventory management strategies.
Tab Management for Accurate Billing
Square’s payment system simplifies opening and closing tabs, reducing billing errors and ensuring accurate charges. With features like tab management and easy payment processing, customers can quickly and easily start and close tabs without confusion or mistakes. This improves the customer experience and helps businesses avoid costly billing errors.
Food Trucks and Mobile Vendors:
Compact and Portable Hardware Solutions
Square Terminal offers a compact, portable solution for quick setup and teardown in mobile food and beverage businesses.
Location-Based Services
Integrate location-based services with Square Online to help customers find and order from mobile vendors.
Catering and Event Services:
Scheduling and Management with Square Appointments
Square Appointments simplifies scheduling and managing events and bookings for catering services.
Efficient Invoicing and Estimates Features
Square’s invoicing and estimates features streamline billing and payment management for catering clients.
Square Restaurant POS Example
Learn more about Square’s food and beverage POS here.
Square Credit Card Processing for Retail Businesses
Square offers a wide range of services and products tailored to the retail industry, accommodating various retail business types. Below, we delve into Square’s specialized features and solutions for brick-and-mortar stores, online retailers, pop-up shops, and specialty retailers.
Brick-and-Mortar Retail Stores
Point-of-Sale System for In-Store Sales
Square for Retail offers a comprehensive POS system with inventory management, customer profiles, and employee management tools, streamlining in-store sales and operations.
Integrated Hardware Solutions
Square Register and Square Terminal provide seamless hardware integration, simplifying transactions and enhancing customer experience.
Advanced Reporting and Analytics
Square’s reporting and analytics features deliver actionable insights into sales trends, inventory management, and customer behavior.
Online Retailers
Easy-to-Use E-commerce Platform
Square Online provides a user-friendly platform for creating customizable, professional online stores that integrate seamlessly with the Square POS system.
Shipping and Pickup Options
Square offer customers a variety of shipping and pickup options, including in-store pickup, curbside pickup, and shipping integration with major carriers.
Secure Payment Processing for Online Transactions
Square’s focus on providing a secure payment processing system ensures safe and reliable online transactions for customers.
Learn more about Square’s retail POS options here.
Other Square Services
Since the launch of the Square card reader and mobile app, the company has rolled out several other services for both business owners and personal use. Below are links to our specific Square reviews for these services.
- Square Register is a point-of-sale (POS) device that is intended as an all-in-one payment terminal for retail businesses. The company has options tailored for retail POS, restaurant POS, food truck POS, coffee shop POS, as well as a few others.
- Square Online Store is an Square’s online store builder for selling products over the internet. The platform is simple to use and quick to set up. The service has no monthly fees and the only cost is the card transaction fees from your sales.
- Square for Retail is Square’s point-of-sale system specifically designed for brick-and-mortar retailers. The service is similar to Square Register but includes a revamped checkout process as well as additional features such as enhanced inventory management, employee accounts, cost of goods sold, purchase orders, vendor lists, and more.
- Square Cash is a direct peer-to-peer cash transfer service that is linked to a user’s debit card. Cash sends payments via email and smartphone and allows for free transfers of funds between users. The service is not targeted at business owners, but they may use it to make payments outside of a business setting.
- Square Capital is a Square’s business loan program that can be activated from the dashboard in the Square Register. Square Capital allows merchants to receive a large upfront cash amount and then pay that total back over time with a fixed percentage of their daily credit card sales, similar to a merchant cash advance.
- The company has also recently launched several other service including a virtual terminal that can be used on any device, an self-serve orders app called “Square Order,” an online invoicing feature called “Square Invoices,” an online scheduler called “Square Appointments,” and an offline processing mode that enables merchants to capture payments even when their internet is down.
Industries Square Does Not Serve: Prohibited Businesses
While Square offers an extensive suite of services and products catering to a wide range of industries, there are certain businesses that it does not serve due to legal, regulatory, or compliance reasons. This short section highlights industries and business types that are prohibited according to Square’s list of restricted industries. Attempting to process payments with Square in the following business types will result in your funds being withheld and the termination of your account.
Regulated Products and Services
Square does not support businesses that deal in the sale or distribution of regulated products and services, such as narcotics, marijuana, drug paraphernalia, e-cigarettes, firearms, ammunition, and explosives. The company does, however, provide payment processing for CBD businesses (See: Best CBD Payment Processors)
Adult Content and Services
Businesses involved in adult entertainment, products, or services—including but not limited to pornography, escort services, and adult live chat features—are not supported by Square (See: Best Adult Industry Payment Processors).
Financial and Legal Services
Square does not cater to businesses offering certain financial and legal services, such as investment and credit services, bankruptcy attorneys, collection agencies, and payday loans (See: Best High-RIsk Merchant Account Providers).
Gambling and Betting
Businesses involved in gambling, lottery, or betting activities, including online gambling sites, sports forecasting, and odds-making, are not supported by Square (See: Best Merchant Accounts for Gambling Businesses).
Illicit or Unethical Activities
Square prohibits any business involved in illicit or unethical activities, including those that promote hate speech, harassment, discrimination, or that violate intellectual property rights.
High-Risk Products and Services
Businesses dealing with high-risk products or services, such as telecommunications equipment, prepaid phone cards, phone unlocking services, or those that pose a high risk of fraud or chargebacks, are not supported by Square (See: Best High Risk Payment Processors).
Square Customer Complaints & Reviews
Here's What Users Think
Complaint Summary
|
Total Online Complaints
2,300+
|
Live Customer Support
Active Merchants Only
|
Most Common Complaint
Fund Holds
|
|
Lawsuits
Yes
|
Square Alternatives
We recommend Helcim as the top alternative to Square. Both services offer an easy to use mobile payment processing device that works with most mobile devices and tablets. Helcim offers a month-to-month contract, no monthly or annual fees, customer support phone line, next-day funding, extremely low processing fees, and QuickBooks integration. Helcim has also been consistently reviewed as one of our top-rated processors since we first reviewed it almost ten years ago. We feel that the company provides all the functionality that Square offers with a much smoother customer experience. For more information please read our full Helcim Review. If you operate a “high-risk” business, please out list of high-risk credit card processors.
Where Square Falls Short
Another area that Square comes up short in this review is its customer service. Square has racked up a lot of complaints (more than 2,300 just in our comment section below). The majority of reviews complaint of virtually nonexistent phone support and funding holds. Additionally, the company has not been active in attempting to resolve online complaints.
Square / Block Lawsuits
The company has defended against several lawsuits:
- In 2018, Square settled a class-action lawsuit filed against its food delivery service “Caviar”. The company was alleged to have withheld money from delivery workers left by customers as gratuities from 2012 to 2015 and agreed to pay $2.2 million dollars under the settlement.
- We have found evidence of multiple other lawsuits from the last few years. In 2019 Square was accused of mishandling the way it dealt with information concerning payments for medical procedures. The suit was dismissed with prejudice later that year.
- In another class-action suit, Square faces charges of holding large amounts of funds from merchant accounts that it deemed high risk. Square has received numerous complaints relating to these charges over the years, and this case is ongoing.
- A 2021 class-action suit has been brought against Square and other major credit card processing companies over what the complainants call price-fixing over the use of the interchange fee.
- A potentially major suit was brought against Square CEO Jack Dorsey in 2021, in which a Twitter shareholder claims that Twitter gives “broad access” to user data to advertisers and that Square, Dorsey’s other company, has “benefitted wildly from this disregard for privacy.” The suit has wide-ranging implications for Square if it succeeds, as it seeks to remove Dorsey from Twitter and force both companies to undergo major reforms.
Square Customer Support Options
The company appears to rely too heavily on customer service provided by email, its support forum, and social media. The company does have a customer support phone number that operates from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. PDT (see How to Contact Square), but merchants and business owners must request and receive a code from the Square website in order to actually reach a representative.
Only Active Accounts Get Real-time Help
Phone support codes are only provided to active Square merchants, meaning that deactivated accounts will be unable to reach support. It is our position that deactivated accounts are the businesses who have the greatest need for phone support. Business owners who prefer to have access to full-time, in-house support staff are better off choosing a conventional merchant account provider.
Long Wait Times
Merchants are waiting up to several days for a response from Square, by phone or email. Many users also report that Square has not satisfactorily responded to their support requests. Many Square reviews report disbelief that a company as large as Square lacks direct phone support.
Beware Square Phishing Scams
At the time of a previous update, numerous non-Square users claimed to receive emails from Square regarding non-existent accounts. These emails stated that Square was having trouble depositing sales into the user’s account. It went on to instruct the to supply account details to receive their payment. These emails are very likely to be Square phishing scams. Such scams are designed to trick users into providing personal information. They do not have any connection to the actual company Square. If you receive a suspicious email regarding your Square account, forward it to [email protected].
Square BBB Rating and Report
Our Better Business Bureau Profile Assessment
BBB Summary
|
Product & Service Complaints
3,626
|
Billing & Collection Complaints
1,115
|
Advertising & Sales Complaints
65
|
|
Guarantee & Warranty Complaints
18
|
Delivery Complaints
199
|
Note: We have adjusted this company’s BBB rating according to our own standards. To better understand why we adjust BBB ratings, please see our Rating Criteria.
Square’s BBB Complaints on the Rise
As of this update, the Better Business Bureau is reporting an “A+” rating for Square despite 5,023 complaints filed in the last 36 months. Square complaints have skyrocketed since we first published this review in April of 2011.
How the Complaints Break Down
Of the 5,023 total complaints, 3,626 are regarding problems with service, 1,115 with billing and collection, 199 with delivery problems, 65 with advertising and sales issues, and 18 due to guarantee or warranty issues. The BBB previously added a note stating that it has received many complaints regarding Square’s fund-withholding procedures. Square responded by quoting its Terms of Use policies and referring to the help section of its website. It does not seem to have made any tangible change to its fund-holding policy in response to this notice. Square has resolved 1,773 complaints while the remaining 3,250 either were resolved. It should be noted that fewer complaint appear to be getting resolved compared to previous updates.
What Merchants Say
Square has also received 381 informal reviews to its BBB profile, with only 6 positive in tone and 375 negative. The most recent review describes potentially fraudulent charges and a lack of customer service:
********************** took money from our new business account. A recent new startup business. They claimed it was from a different business that was closed long ago, that was in someone else’s name. It had nothing to do with us. We provided them with all the documentation they requested yet they kept trying to debit the account, costing us a lot of money in fees. We were eventually forced to close the account just to stop them from debiting. Fortunately the bank manager had been through this with customers who use ********************** before and sided with us. The ********************** “Customer Success” team was absolutely horrific. It literally took weeks to speak to a real person. They lied to us multiple times, on recorded calls. Even telling us, more than once, that the “Recovery Team” doesn’t have phones (yes, they actually said that)They have done nothing to resolve the costs they incurred us. They cannot give us any details of the supposed transaction(s), dates, company, customer or any other information on why they fraudulently (in my opinion) took money to begin with. We have, to date, spent over 40 hours trying to resolve this issue with **********************. Finally, after nearly two months a real person called. The end result was they still refuse to pay us back for what they cost us and still insist we owed them money. They offered to issue us a “******” for the amount!. The thing is, we DON’T owe them. Never have.
This merchant would be better served by one of our top-rated processors.
A “C” Performance
Due to the company’s high complaint count compared, we have adjusted the BBB’s rating to a “C” for the purposes of this review.
Square Fees and Rates
A Closer Look at the Contract
Cost Summary
|
Swiped Rate
2.60% + $0.10
|
Keyed-in Rate
3.5% + $0.15
|
E-Commerce Rate
2.90% + $0.30
|
|
Monthly Fees
$0
|
Square’s Processing Fees are Simple
One of the most appealing aspects of Square for business owners is the lack of monthly or annual fees. In fact, there are none of typical of the typical fees found with most other traditional merchant services providers, such as activation fees, monthly fees, gateway fees, PCI Compliance fees, downgrade fees, and early termination fees. Square has no additional monthly fees outside of transaction fees. This means that there are no costs incurred if a business owner doesn’t make any sales.
Fees by Transaction Type
Square used to offer a very competitively priced magnetic stripe card reader, but following the switch to chip cards in the U.S., users are encouraged to purchase the chip card reader at a still-low cost of only $49. The company offers a single processing fee option for all merchants using Square Reader or Square Register.
Square’s fees are:
- 2.6% + $0.10 for swiped transactions
- 3.5% + $0.15 for keyed-in transactions
- 2.9% + $0.30 per sale through Square e-commerce
How Square’s Costs Compare
Square’s swipe rate is about 0.80% higher than what a business could achieve with a well-negotiated traditional merchant account. The keyed-in rate is about 1% higher for the same industries. If you are new business and looking for competitive rates, see our recommended credit card processors. If you are an established business looking for lower fees, consider our independent statement audit service to eliminate hidden processing costs.
High Volume Businesses, Heed Caution
Square does not verify the credit history of its prospective customers so it uses sophisticated systems to avoid fraud losses. The company states that there are no transaction limits, per sale or month. However, such marketing is misleading because numerous Square reviews report that large sales trigger funding holds. Additional, reviews also reports that a high number of sales over a short period can trigger a hold. The policies regarding such holds are not disclosed and no advance warning is given.
Square’s Previous Rolling Reserve Policy
Until November 2013, Square placed holds on funds of card-not-present sales if over $2,002 was charged within any seven-day period. This meant that if a merchant processed $2,100 in sales within seven days, the extra $98 would be held by Square for 30 days. This policy caused confusion among users because Square did not provide any warning before the $2,002 limit was reached. Square now says that merchants can process transactions of any type and size without worrying about a processing limit, but this is not entirely true.
Related: How to Stop Square From Holding Your Money
Square’s Current Fraud Triggers
Square’s current primary tactic to limit fraud is less transparent than its previous rolling reserve policy, which is why it has a low score in this section. Square seems to rely on undisclosed algorithmic “risk factors” to automatically hold business transactions that it considers suspicious. The payment processing system appears to flag many legitimate transactions, causing problems for some merchant accounts. Complaints have emerged that Square has randomly placed lengthy holds (over 30 days) on funds, even those swiped in person, without explanation or notification. When a transaction is flagged, Square will either contact the merchant for more information about the merchant or transaction, or deactivate the merchant’s account.
More Transparency Needed For Risky Transactions
This protocol lets Square publicly claim that it does not hold merchants’ funds because the withheld funds technically belong to “deactivated” Square merchants instead of “active” Square merchants. Square’s policies on fund holding and risk mitigation are very unclear and make the service risky for higher volume merchants. Square needs to do a better job of educating merchants about transactions that could lead to account deactivation. Steps the company could take include issuing a warning before processing transactions that will be held, immediately informing merchants when transactions have been held, and communicating with merchants throughout the hold process.
Some Minor Improvements Could Raise Square’s Rating
In most respects, Square has favorable pricing and contract terms for merchants. It has a simple signup process, affordable equipment costs, no monthly fees or long-term contracts, and easy-to-understand pricing. However, sudden account deactivation can greatly impact a merchant’s operations, so the grade for this section will not reach “A” until Square improves its risk mitigation procedure.
Square Jobs and Employment
Hiring Standards and Ethical Marketing Assessment
Key Points
|
Employs Independent Resellers
No
|
Advertises Transparent Rates
Yes
|
Discloses All Important Terms
No
|
|
Telemarketing/Door-to-Door
No
|
Working at Square, Employee Sentiment
We take into account a company’s employee sentiment as it can have a direct impact on the client experience. Overall, employee reviews of Square have been positive, with many employees praising the company’s innovative culture, talented colleagues, and commitment to diversity and inclusion. Many also appreciate the opportunities for career growth and development, as well as the company’s focus on work-life balance and employee well-being.
However, some reviews have also highlighted challenges such as long work hours and high expectations, as well as issues with communication and transparency. Additionally, some employees have raised concerns about pay and benefits, particularly for those in entry-level or support roles.
Overall, Square appears to be a highly regarded employer, with a strong focus on innovation, employee development, and diversity and inclusion. However, as with any workplace, there may be some areas for improvement, and individual experiences may vary.
How Square is Different from Traditional Merchant Account Providers
Square differs greatly from traditional credit card processors in how it markets its POS systems and sells its service. Most merchant account providers hire poorly trained outside independent agents. These agents are trained to set high fees in exchange for big commissions. Square instead relies on online marketing and partnerships and does not hire outside sales agents. Nearly all of Square’s users sign up directly through the homepage of the company’s website. Square has also benefited from an enormous amount of online buzz and word-of-mouth promotion.
Beware of Processing Limitations
Square markets its pricing with a straightforward and easy-to-understand message. However. the company fails to mention anything about its fraud mitigation policies. These policies have caused significant problems for many businesses and some have complained of large financial losses. Numerous Square reviews accuse the company of misleading marketing. These complaints stem from the company’s fund holding policies and lack of warning on the type of transactions that can trigger holds. There are several industries, that can be found on this page, deemed as “high-risk” that will find themselves at the mercy of Square’s underwriting and fraud prevention systems. Such businesses would be better served by a high-risk merchant account.
Square Review Summary
Our Final Thoughts and Opinions
Square is a great card processing option for entry level and low volume businesses. The company is definitely on the right track with providing an easy credit card processing solution with no long-term commitments and no monthly fees. However, several Square reviews from high volume merchants report murky fund holding policies and poor customer support. It appears that Square is best suited for individuals or small business owners who have an occasional need to accept a credit card payment, such as babysitters, flea market vendors, or small retail and restaurant businesses. The service does not appear to be a good fit for merchants that either have a high volume of credit card sales or that sell high-ticket items.
Learn even more about Square’s services here.
If you found this article helpful, please share it!
Cavin
The lack of customer service is extremely frustrating. I have sent three emails and still not got any response. I paid my contractor with his square and it was charged to my credit card 5 days ago but it has still not showed up in his account. I will not be using this service again
Sara
Has anyone had any problem with Square stealing money from your bank account? I’m probably being paranoid, but just in case it’s merited I’d like to know. Someone email me and tell me if this has happened! Please!
Chad T
I have been using Square for about 9 or 10 months now and I have not had a single reason to even think of dialing the customer service number much less something crazy like unauthorized withdraws from my account.
I run a roadside assistance company providing light roadside assistance like Unlocks, Jump starts, Flat Tire Changes and Fuel Deliveries. Aside from the OCCASIONAL card that wont swipe properly and I have to retry a couple times I am so happy with my square service. My customers like it too being able to see that I am just swiping the card and not writing the number down on a piece of paper (invoice) that could entice theft or misuse later on.
For the low volume of transactions and my base rate of $24 each 24 hours a day I could not even begin to afford to use another processor with all their fee’s.
jane
Chad,
There are many other options out there similar to square including Paypal Here, Intuit GoPayment, and PayAnywhere. There fees are competitively priced and their customer service has a much higher rating. The reason why Square is so user friendly is because they don’t collect enough information to know who their users are. It is a security issue they are frantically addressing.
Terry
Square is a total ripoff and a joke. You swipe the card and then it does not go through so you have to manually put the card information in the reader. Once you manually enter the card information these jackasses say that they will allow me up to $5000.00 per week. After the $5000.00 finally goes into my account the last $4000.00 is held for 30 days. If they allowed $5000.00 last week the difference should be put in the following week, but guess what you are screwed for 30 days. I am filing a complaint with the Better Business Bureau which already has over 70 complaints on file.
karl joyce
This is the worst $1 billion company I’ve ever worked with – sorry – tried to work with – I try to call 415-375-3176 and leave emails but I’ve never received a response.
THIS IS VERY BAD and some sort of a movement should be done because this may be a scam of sorts.
What company like this can’t afford to offer an 800 number.
Richard Reichle
Is it legal for Square Up to hold payments for 180 days, or for any additional time beyond what is stated in the policy statement? Has anyone else had a problem with this or with deposits not being made per the policy statement? Square Up may have a great idea and a concept, but the customer service and the handling of attempts to contact them are unprofessional.
Rick
You’re being too kind, calling their handling “unprofessional”, Richard.
I don’t know about the legality of how they do things, but holding customer funds for 180 (half a year!) for completely arbitrary reasons WITHOUT appeal process and no way to actually speak to a human being seems the worst way for ANY business to handle customers. It’s a miracle to me that they’re still in business.
Guess it’s great for small time merchants who have small payments, and not a whole lot of them. As soon as payments get a bit bigger than a few dollars, it seems many merchants are are experiencing problems.
There are other players in this field that have rates just as low as Square, and way better customer service.
Troy
Square is holding over $1700. I just purchased a business 1 month ago and now I have no money to pay my bills. I sent in requested documentation of the validity of my business, but today I recieved e-mail stating they are holding my money for 180 day and that I cannot run any more transactions. I have several clients scheduled this week, but will not be able to collect payment. I don’t know what to do! This company has made it impossible to run my business. If anyone is reading – please advise!!!
Phillip CPO
Hi Troy, there may not be anything you can do about the hold but you might want to checkout GoPayment to replace Square. The service scored well in my review and seems to be scoring well with merchants that use it.
BrendaR
I have a question, but don’t know where to find the answer: How do customers “sign” the cc transaction when I’ll be using my Android phone?
Brenda
I have a question about the $1K hold limit: is this per transaction that’s over $1K, or if you take multiple small transactions that add up to $1K? Where can you find this info on the square site?
Laura
Square is holding over 35 thousand dollars on our Company account, they say for 90 days. Who knows if we will EVER get it.
There have been 70 complaints file with the San Francisco BBB alone in the past 12 months.
YES, use this company if you can AFFORD to HAVE YOUR FUNDS HELD INDEFINITELY AT THEIR WHIM.
They just assume this is O.K. No problem, we don’t need the 35k that we worked so hard for to pay our bills. PLEASE! I have heard from MANY customers who have experienced the same thing.
If you are reading this, chances are you too have had a problem. Report them to the Following: States Attorney General in California AND your own State (do both), and the BBB.
They need to be STOPPED!
Laurence M. Nuelle
I have had two problems with Square. One was at an exhibition where a customer charged a $10 item with American Express. The sale went through with no problem. The customer then decided to buy another identical item for the same price, just a few seconds after purchasing the first item. The sale was declined. He then used a Visa card. For the rest of the exhibition, all American Express cards were declined.
Just yesterday (April 5, 2010), a customer tried to make a $1,000 purchase with a MasterCard. The card was declined by Square. I then took him to the physical location of the business, and the sale went through with no problem using the wired terminal in the shop with the same credit card that Square declined.
Square seems to be unreliable in processing cards and a person could potentially loose sales by using square. I am thinking of going back to the wireless remote terminal (Hpercom) that Ihad used previously to Square.
Bill
Square has frozen my account and although I have sent them ample documentation regarding the validity of my business- they have not responded and you have NO ability to speak to someone. They have failed to reply to 10 emails and two messages.
They have over $1500 of my funds and will not deposit them. Is this a scam????
Kevin
I have been using square since it was in beta. Previously I used a company called Approval Payment Solutions which proceeded to jack my rate up after I told them (after having just 3 months left) that I would no longer need their services once my contract was over. Square is great for a small business and unless you run credit cards without swiping or you process large transactions $1000 and up per transaction. However since I run small $40-$50 transactions here and there this has worked great! I have been running my own small business for 5 years now and using square for about 3 years without any problems.
Cassandra
thank you for this feedback. i am considering using Square for $25 – $100 priced services.
kelly
Thanks Kevin
I too have recevied the reader. I have only used it once (myself to test) and it worked perfectly. Your review helped because I am a small organization (football team) and my transactions are normally cash, but always in small denomination.
thanks
John McDonald
I have been using Square since last July for selling my teaching CD’s etc.
When I first started it took about 3 – days for monies to appear in my bank, but now
they are usually there within 48 hours. When I started the reader did not work on
Android 3 which my Samsung Galaxy was, but now the reader works. I have
processed over $1500 with the largest payment being $160.
I love it, just want to see them develop the ability for internet transactions.
rick
I’ve been using Square for about 18 months. As a company that sells primarily through our network of dealers, we only process about $1500 or so per month as credit cards. Every couple of quarters I check to make sure I wouldn’t be better off returning to a traditional merchant service. Not so far. I never pay more than 3.6% (the 3.5% percent keyed-in rate–not 3.15% as erroneously noted in the article–and the $0.15 per-transaction charge). Compare that to my previous payments of, at best, 6.5% of revenues and on up to as much as 40%, when including the panoply of fees the merchant service charged every month. I agree it’s frustrating having to deal only through messages to Square, and sometimes not receiving a response, but so far this is the best cc processing method I’ve found.
Rick
I did have one other issue with the company, which is that they will not process credit cards from holders outside of the U.S., including Canada. I had to find a third party to process it for me. They said at the time they were thinking of adding Canada, but so far, as far as I know, it’s only a thought.
AuctionWally
I am in the middle of a huge mess with this company. It involves a chargeback that was made against me by mistake. The customer who make the chargeback has voluntarily reversed it. Square says it still is going to take up to 60 business days to get my money back!
It seems very much like they are working a scam involving float money being held. The customer support, by the way is terrible.
I’ve documented customer support communication and plan on turning it into an article on Examiner.com watch for it soon. Feel free to leave your comments there when I do. I’ll post a followup here when that article is live. Perhaps we can get some movement if we join together.
Phillip CPO
Hi AuctionWally,
How about publishing a guest post on this website instead of Examiner?
greg mackenzie
Same thing is happening to me. Jan.2012 a customer did a chargeback after a misunderstanding . The customer contacted the issuer and did a reversal. I recieved the chargeback notice after the reversal date.Sent all documention to Square (signed reciept from customer and reference number for issuer). Still 4 months later still no money. The customer has been charge and my account still show the balance owed. Square will not answer my e-mail and have left many voice mail. Not sure why they would want to treat me this way, just make no sense. You can have the Examiner contact me. If there is a lawyer out there looking to make a few bucks this woukd be a good class action .
Carol
We are also experiencing a similar situation. It is very frustrating. It’s been going on for a few months and we have not gotten any resolution except for a couple of what looks like automated responses saying that it will be another 30 days or so….
Very disappointed in their service.
John
HORRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE. If they decide not to release funds, they tell you they will get back to you within 24 hrs. B.S. They have my money, haven’t released it and it has been five days since this mess began. NO ONE EVER GETS BACK TO YOU and NO phone number!!!!
HORRIBLE!!!
When it comes to my had earned money, I need to know when it is available. NOT worth the tiny savings to have to worry about my money and if they are ever going to get back to you… Get a company that has decent customer service! Pay the extra fees, it is worth it.
Laura
This Company is some kind of a SCAM.
I am so sorry I signed up for this during the height of our season.
They are holding over 50K of our Companies funds and some payments have been held for over two months. Can not speak to a human and the only e-mail response I got was that they were investigating Suspicious activity. We rent vacation homes and do transactions of $5000 ~ 10,000 each. All of my customers say their credit card was charged long ago and some have even paid their bills. Why is my money being held?
i just home I get my funds before they go out of business!
BUYER BEWARE! DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY.
John
Did you contact them immediately or were your funds being held for a while before contacting them?
What responses did they give you?
Bill
This is exactly what they are doing to me. I think it is some kind of scam to make float on your money.
Damian De Leon
After running transactions in the past couple days i was wondering why i was only seeing very small amounts of money coming in my business account it was a huge surprise to learn that Square has placed a 30 day hold on the funds that was collected its totally up to well over $6,000.00 which I would need that to cover bills, rent payroll. So Square has single handlily mananged to put my company in financial trouble with their shady policy. Granted they have already taken out their fees from the transaction before placing a hold on the funds im due.
They can sure expect a legal letter, they have not clearly displayed this fact and as a result
Have been decepitve the reason why they would hold the funds when getting paid is totally suspicious.
Its no wonder they dont offer a direct customer service line to have things addressed.
Aaron Kalmar
I’am sick after reading all the emails of how horrible the square is. We are a small landscaping company and they are holding our funds for over 10days $2,000.00 I WISH I had done my homework and this would have never had this happened. They are messing up are funds as well now insted of getting a head we are behind Thanks to the Square DON”T EVER USE this devise for your business it S____
Aaron
mike123
Would like to use square for $1.00 transaction for soccer games(about 1500 transactions per game). Square would cost .03(.0275 rounded up) cents per $1, debit cards predominantly used. Does Square pay the .22 cent fee required by federal legislation for debit? If so, Square would pay .22 cents to the bank that issued the debit card ? Our account would cost Square $285.00 (1500 transactions per game x .19cents). Why would Square do this ?
Phillip CPO
The 22 cent fee is the maximum of which banks are allowed to charge, not the fee they are required to charge. Therefore, Square has probably worked out a deal to pay a percentage fee that allows them to make a profit on micro transactions.
mike123
Phillip, thank you for your fourm, but I disagree – Below are the interchange rates for Visa
Were does it say they are the max ? What bank/ISO would agree to a .22 cent risk on a small ticket item ?
Please double check your facts !
Phillip CPO
Hi Mike,
You may disagree, but it is indeed a fact. The link you posted is prior to the passing of the Durbin Amendment, which is part of the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. The Amendment caps Debit Interchange Swipe fees at 21 cents plus a 1 cent “Fraud Prevention” fee and a 0.05% ad valorem tax, so roughly 22 cents. This cap only applies to processing banks. Therefore, ISOs are still allowed add a profit margin on top of the cap and may collect a much larger fee depending on a merchant’s rate pricing plan.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodd%E2%80%93Frank_Wall_Street_Reform_and_Consumer_Protection_Act
Marques
Hi Mike,
In a case like this, you would get charged $0.0275 if you were only charging $1.00 transactions. If you ran a $100 trans you would be charged $2.75 if swiped. If the savings is passed on to the merchant which it is not you would get charged less than $0.23 for the same $100 trans. Since you are on a fixed rate with square, the debit interchange fee of .05%+$0.21 applies only to visa not to square. So square does not pass the savings on to the merchant. And if I am wrong I challenge anyone to show me a statement that shows me otherwise.
mike123
Mike;
Here is the updated Visa April 2012 interchange from their web site. It clearly states .21 cents plus .01 cent for fraud and .0005 discount. Are you saying that each Visa/Mastercard ISO can negotiate around interchange?
Phillip CPO
Think of Interchange as the wholesale cost of credit card processing. In order for ISOs to make a profit, they have to markup the cost by building on their own rates and fees.
John
I use Square for low number of relatively small (up to several hundred dollars) transactions.
Works well for me. I had one issue come up and after several times back and forth by email I got frustrated and asked them to call me. The customer service rep called me the following day and we resolved the issue in 5 minutes. And I now know how to avoid that issue in the future.
Will continue using Square. It works for my needs.
rodney
This is the worst company do not use this if you want to keep your hard. Earned money they owe me 9600 dollars will not reply to emails no number to call someone email me a good number to talk to a person [email protected]
Jason
Their 800# is listed in this article jr.
I have used Square for over 1 year now and have only had 1 issue, which was my doing. It was resolved quickly and have not had any more issues. I like that there is new competition in the market place, everyone should like that. If you don’t like square go somewhere else, but don’t blame square for your ignorance.
Read this article…..it explains how to avoid the “card not present” situations being described….if it confused you then read it again. It’s quite simple if you are processing more than 1K in “card not present” transactions per 7 days then provide them with more company information in order to increase the limit or start swiping the cards in the customer’s presence.
Square helped our small “made in America” business get off the ground with low cost, mobile credit card processing, when my bank wanted to charge me 2.4%+monthly fee+setup fee+plus .29/trans fee. Square saved us thousands. It gets an A+ from me.
Paul Mulryan
Our company used Square, which turned out to be a monumental mistake. The company offers terrible customer service…actually it offers zero customer service. Trying to connect with a human being is virtually impossible. Our company held a fund raiser for a family that recently lost a loved one. This caused a lot of activity on our Square card reader. Square’s risk department stated that because their was so much activity, they were classifying our company to be “high risk”, shut down our account and froze our funds for 30 days, (it has been 30 days and or funds, over $400.00 are still being held) They profit by fees, that are not returned and interest while they hold your money. This is not a company that I would recommend. GoPayment is much more professional and has a much better rating. Our company provided our neighbor that lost their loved one with a check for the amount received from the fund raiser, Square has yet to provide our company with what is ours. Mind you, we were using Square as it is intended to be used, no complaints were lodged against our company and we did nothing wrong or illegal, they simply choose to deny us what was rightfully ours, with absolutely no justification and no due process! Beware of Square.
diane
I wonder if this is appropriate for high volume (150/mo), low dollar (<$30-60 per transaction sales. Is there a better option? The multi-day hold is big, but not insurmountable.
EJAZ
you will be fine.
Jayjay
A company contacted me recently to use their swipe machine instead of Square.I told them the good reasons why I chose Square but they told me that Square sends its customers 1099 form at the end of tax year while they dont.Is this true?
Phillip CPO
Starting in 2012, all merchant account providers are now required to issue 1099-K forms to their merchant customers and to report credit card processing earnings to the IRS. If someone is telling you that they do not do this, then they would be in violation of the new IRS requirements and could possibly put you in violation as well.
jessy
I assume this also includes PayPal?
Phillip CPO
A PayPal account isn’t a merchant account. They do offer a “merchant services” account for larger volume needs but it’s unclear if it’s considered a traditional merchant account that falls within the IRS reporting requirements. I recommend inquiring with PayPal if this is a concern.
Rick
Phillip:
wondering why none of my comments over the last couple of months have made it on to this forum? Something offensive I said??
Phillip CPO
Hi Rick,
I show three comments published under the name “Rick” this month. You may want to click “refresh” when you are on this page as your browser may have cached an older version of it. If any of your comments are missing, they may have been filtered as spam if they contained at link. Otherwise, I would have published them if they don’t violate my comment policy, which can be found above the comment form. Another common reason that comments get denied is if someone is trying to leave numerous comments simply to “bad mouth” a company. I do not allow this because it is unhelpful to other readers. I’m not saying that you are doing any of these things, but those are the most common reasons. If you type “crtl + F” on your keyboard and then type “rick” while on the review page, you should be able to find the comments that have been approved.
Rick
Hi Phillip,
I think you’re responding to the wrong Rick. My two comments were posted as submitted.
By the way, thanks for your service. At first I was leery of your site; it appeared potentially slanted toward firms that may have been advertisers or sponsors. As I continue to follow the conversations, I can understand some of your rankings. I do question whether Square is actually holding funds from some accounts for 180 days, though.
Also, in my case I’m charged a discount rate of 3.5% for card-not-present transactions, and not the 3.15% rate you state. I believe that’s the universal card-not-present rate.
Best regards,
Rick
Phillip CPO
Not sure where things are going wrong with the other Rick’s comments, but thanks for letting me know.
I can understand how you might have initial concerns about my site. Most other sites that cover this industry are heavily biased by advertisers or run by providers themselves. My goal with CPO is to add a level of unbiased transparency that currently doesn’t exist with this industry. In order to cover costs I do accept advertising, but only from providers that have already scored well in a review. I never let advertising or bribes of any kind influence my reviews or ratings.
I believe that Square is holding some merchants funds for 180 days as this is a standard practice throughout the industry. In most cases, however, they only do it if a high level of risk of Chargebacks or potential fraud has been identified, which is usually based on the type of business the merchant is running. As for Square’s card-not-present rate, it was 3.15% when I originally wrote this review but it looks like they have recently raised it to 3.5%. I have updated the article to reflect the new pricing. Thanks for your feedback!
Felicia
I agree with you. This same mess just happened to me. I had a customer do a chargeback square took it out 2 times leaving my bank account in the negative now i have funds in squre that they havent released to my bank yet. Ive emailed them and received no response as of yet. Im really getting frustrated because i need to put in an order
Resting Rock Farm, Inc.
Here’s my experience and recommendations.
Do your dilligence before signing up for any merchant services.
Asked face to face, other merchants that were already using credit card devices of all kinds.
Square is probably best suited for transactions under $1,000.
Fees are perfect if you have low volume.
Reading the terms and conditions, answered a lot of my questions.
Check with your bank to make sure they don’t charge a fee for incoming funds.
I recommend setting up a bank account just for Square transactions.
Device received within a week of completing my order online.
While waiting for the device, complete the bank verification.
The app downloaded in about a minute on my iphone.
Practice first. It’s easy.
The money shows in Square account online within minutes and in my bank account that night.
If device doesn’t work, order another one online. Takes less than 5 minutes. Better than waiting on hold or wasting anymore time.
Personally I love it and recommend it to all my clients who’s business fit into this Square.
Lee
How do you delete Square from your account??
Ron
Subscribed to squareup. Used it once! Would not scan customers card, so had to enter number manually, which takes time, aggravates the customer, and nets squareup bigger fees. Bought another scanner, same problem. There is NO customer service. Cannot resolve problem, company is unresponsive and many, many unhappy customers out there. Is this any way to run a financial services company?
Disgusted in Texas
louie
That is one of the problems they have besides the cutomer service,I have the same problem with the card reader,most of my customers are in remote locations and swiping it does not work,I have to key it in and get charge a higher % and then pray that I will get me money…….not good……. looking into gopayments sounds like they maybe a better company.
ejaz
go payments scanner has same issue. Try running square card with the square part away from you & run the CC with magnetic strip facing you. I find that almost 99% of cards scan right away.
peric
the first two transactions i made two weeks ago has not been deposited in my account and the sad news is that i dont have any contact phone number for square. i am afraid
Keith R. H.
I had posted an informative comment back on November 22, 2011 about this subject. (feel free to scroll down and to the next page for it).
I am only posting this because I have seen an increase in advertisements and use of this “gadget” and unsurprisingly seen more and more aggravating complaints.
According to the above article, Square’s Sales and Marketing tactics receive the highest marks. For example; I just today saw another Square advertisement on Facebook. Thats wonderful for the company, but think about this, McDonalds is also the best in Sales and Marketing, but how do you rate their product?
The article also gives high marks to the Cost and Contract Terms, but it seems that Square’s contract terms outweigh (in their favor) the less expensive cost.
Customer Service reputation should always be the key to any business’ success. Square obviously does not do well at all in this category.
Think about it. If you were to run a business with hard to reach, poor service, how long would you actually last? (especially in the financial transaction confidence. People greatly fear the lack of credit card security and it takes just one slight falter to set off that alarm in their mind)
I personally have a seasonal small business (just celebrated 19 years) with no storefront (I sell a craft shows and website sales). I have my own merchant account, which consists a wireless credit card machine that gets immediate authorizations, provides physical paper receipts (signed by customer), flawless 48 hour deposits and several 1-800 CS numbers (with live people 7 days a week). For the few months that I dont conduct much business, the cost runs me roughly $50/month (and that ALSO INCLUDES an Authorized.net account for my website). I can absolutely say that in over 10 yrs, i have NEVER had an issue. LOL
What I’m trying to point out is that in this fast paced “New, Now, Next” world, how do you want your customers to perceive your company and its service? A short fused firecracker? or an eternal flame?
Remember, it takes months to attract a repeat customer and only seconds to lose one. (especially in financial transaction confidence)
*Please note that I am not affiliated with anyone or any company. I am just a regular independent professional with a common sense approach towards business. I will give suggestions only when asked. Again, scroll for my November 22nd post.
Thank you and good luck out there!
KRH
Stephania
Fantastic post and GREAT perspective for a new business owner. Thanks!
Stephania
Think Pink Vintage
Ferndale, MI
Rebecca R
Can you tell me what you use??? I am looking for something dependable…
Phillip CPO
Hi Rebecca, you can find a list of recommendations here: Top Rated Providers
Matt
I will no longer accept Amex cards using Square. (I’ve been using Square for a year now, with mostly good results.) Amex’s fraud protection sniffer basically thinks all Square transactions must be suspect and declines them on behalf of their member. I’m all for good fraud protection but they’re making my life miserable. These are all SWIPED transactions and yet they still get declined for no reason than Amex thinking they must be suspicious.
Since I, as a vendor, cannot call Amex and get certified in any way, or even speak to them on behalf of my customer, I can only do the next best thing and ask my customers for a Visa or Mastercard, which always go through on the first try.
Lou
I have the same problem, my bank account was link to automatic payment that they didn’t go thru because this Company(SQUAREUP) don’t want to release the funds which they are holding for over 2 weeks. I say we should get signatures and take them to Court for fraud. I have a great Lawyer in NYC.
Marco dol
I recently had a transaction with square and amount was $75.00.guess what I was waiting 5 days to for them to deposit amount to my bank account.it didn’t happend,finally I e-mail them and I got respond e-mail next day,they told me their customer services will respond me in 24 hours,after a day I didnt got a respond.then I send second e-mail,just got respond;they canceled my account due to high security risk,what the h*** is this.when I sign up I was approved!!!where is my deposit deseppear?guys stay away from square,as other said they don’t even have a real customer service phone number to talk!!!
selim
How were you able to sent them an e-mail? I have been trying for the last hour and haven’t been able to.
lou
hey! Marco, you are not alone.They are holding $1,150 for over 3 weeks.I collecting signature to take to BBB and also talking to a Lawyer next week in NYC. Here is my E-mail address for anyone that is getting SCum with this fake Company(SQUARE UP) a billion dollar company with no customer service. [email protected]
Tom
Square says that there is no limit to how much you can process when swiping the card through the reader. In reality, there are limits but they just don’t tell you what they are. Instead of being upfront about it, they determine if they should hold your funds based on secret “risk factors”. After experiencing four long and random holds on transactions that seemed legitimate in every way, and receiving absolutely no communication on what was happening with my money, I had enough. I signed up for GoPayment, which is basically the same type of service as Square, based on the recommendation from this site and couldn’t be happier. They are upfront about the limits and actually have a number where actual customer service people answer calls. Just thought I would share since I’m sure there are other business owners/Square users that have the same problems that I had.
mike
Just had an American express card approved and the guy signed and everything yet money was not sent and no record of it anywhere….just emailed them and waiting to hear back
Robert Noeske
WARNING***********FRAUD *****ALERT********WARNING*********> Who knew that this company whom is able to sell its product at Target Stores and have banking relationships with JP Morgan Chase Bank is a fraud. If you think I am kidding, go to their website. There is no phone number!, Anywhere. The ” Contact Us” tab gives you a auto reply that someone will cont you with in 24-48 hours. They never do. I sent over 30 email requests from Feb 28th through March 20th. I have made several calls through my bank to one of Squares internal ph#’s listed. It just goes to a Voice recording with options. You can’t speak to a live operator. I used Square w/o a problem for a few weeks. Without warning and without response as to why, they have been holding $462.00 in transactions since Feb. 25th. Now, multiply that tiny amount by thousands of small businesses and the interest earned on that tiny amount. Process at your own risk people. A company w/o a ph#? how is that possible?
Ron
Robt. –
Same problems I’ve had. No resolution, no way to contact the company and the “Online Help Center” is nothing more than a users manual. Don’t know how they can launch a half-baked product and get to a $1b threshold so quickly. My guess is they ‘re a shell company and will file CH11 when the heat is turned up, leaving us to stand in line with a paltry claim that will be settled for pennies on the dollar.
John
I am having the same problem with them. They are holding $7800.00 of my business money. After processing 3 credit card payments I received an email from them stating that they have “suspended” deposits going into my account until I provide them with a bunch of documentation. I have provided them with the documents and got the famous message about them replying in 24 hours. I still have not received anything from them and they will not answer any emails. I still do not know why my account was suspended and have no idea when it will be opened back up. In the meantime, I have unhappy customers who want product and money tied up with SquareUp. They either need to release the money or refund the customers cards back so we do something different.
I have filed a complaint with the CA AG and the BBB
amy
I have heard about paypal releasing something similar very soon….think I will wait and see how that works out. I’m not willing to have Square keep MY money!
Sean
Look elsewhere for payment processing.
Their customer service is barely in existence.
They will hold your funds indefinitely.
Very unprofessional.
Cute logo and reader is all they have going for them.
Phone number is useless.
Contacting BBB in SF.
Christina
I recently signed up for the Square but have yet to use it for business transactions. I wish I would have read these reviews prior to signing up. I can’t believe they do not have a customer service number.
I am a mobile nail technician and signed up for the Square to provide my clients with the convenience and ease of accepting credit card payments anytime and anywhere. I currently sell gift certificates for services but wanted to switch to selling gift cards to clients that can be purchased in any amount. I would like to know if I can use the Square to pre-load the gift cards when purchased with whatever amount the client chooses? I would also like to know if I would be charged a fee when the client redeems their gift card?
I couldn’t find anything on the Square website and I called and left a voice message on their “customer service” number but am not so sure I will receive a call back. Based on the previous reviews, I won’t hold my breath. Any information anyone has to offer would be great! Thank you!
John
Never had an issue. As a small independent contractor, it has been a life saver, A++++. Use on Andriod, no problem, I get all the readers I ask for….
mishka
It’s been a great asset to my small business! I process about 200-700 a day, and I’ve been extremely satisfied with the service. I do however you MiFi (wireless motem) to keep secure incripted safe transactions.
I do think they should have a better customer service, but I haven’t had to use it and am just going by the article above. I sent an email and was responded to within 48 hours.
damara
How were you able to sent them an e-mail? I have been trying for the last hour and haven’t been able to.
Kevin
Why don’t you just type the persons name in the description before you type?
Like
Candy Bars – John Doe
Kevin Gibbs
Sarah, you don’t need to have them sign a paer receipt.. Simply send yourself a copy of the receipt from your app. It has the signature in the attached receipt.
francis howell
I have sent for one by mail, never got it, I bought one can get it to down load because my e-mail has been used before by me trying to get the first devise, because my email and passwords have never worked together. I can’t talk to you, this is the first time I a have even found anyway in which to make some sort of contact. It seemed like a great idea, my friends device work, but no matter what I do, just can’t seem to get anywhere. So what’s a person to do?????? Got any ideas??? Or would it be better that I just return the device to the store??? Francis Howell
ken
They are holding a large amount of my money for 3 weeks now. Do not use this app.
Amy
The money they are holding, is it from “no card present” sales”? Where they from several transactions or one or two large transactions? I’m trying to do my homework and figure out how this company works. Thank you…and I’m sorry for all the problems!
Ramesh Anand
I signed up with Square for a nonprofit I am associated with.
Received the swiper within a week.
Have used it couple of times for amounts lesser than $1000. Amazed by the effeciency. The swipe worked exceptionally well. We requested an additional swipe that we received within a week.
I see concerns from other users for transactions not swiped for $1000+ – thanks for the red flag.
As of now, I see myself using the Square for all our transactions.
Thanks!!
Sherman
I LOVE Squre! I’ve only been a member for a short time but so far so good!! Such a pleasure not to have any hassels espeically with some Merchant Service Companys.
Keep up the good work….also…try to figure out a phone number for some questions if needed.
Sherman
Marques
I do mostly debit transactions for my business, will I get the same 2.75% also?
Mark Brownlee
I thought I had worked the bugs out of this thing. Far from the truth. In fact everything with Square is far from the truth. Their primary business is not credit card processing. It is interest generation from deposits, deposits you provide with your charges. They engage in institutional banking overnight funds and other high balance short term funds. This is why if you have charges with over a thousand dollars you don’t get them for weeks. I think they are using an auto-capture for amounts over that to fund those interest accounts I listed prior. These funds range from overnight to 30 days, paying higher interest the longer the term extends. It is for this reason I believe it is time for a class action suit against Square. They obviously are defrauding the account holders who have trusted them for millions of dollars in interest they take by holding your money and using it for their purposes. The losses we are suffering from being shorted our legally due funds are also retrievable in a court of law. I will check this site regularly and if I see enough people who would enter a class suit I will provide a website and contact a legal firm well versed in these kind of matters at this income level based in New York. Square is really a criminal organization engaged in racketeering practices. I believe after discussion with a local District Attorney there may be RICO violations as well. I have been waiting on $5,000.00 for more than two weeks. This is just the tip of the iceberg.
Phillip CPO
Mark,
These are pretty heft allegations you are making. Do you have any evidence to back up these claims?
Mark Brownlee
Oh I almost forgot. The seven day hold over a thousand and no card deal. What really tips you off to the issue is when you try to use a card for over a thousand it usually won’t take the card, forcing you to enter the no-card-present game. So I started making little charges first, like $20.00, then trying to use the very same card to take the payments over $4,000.00 since most of mine are over that amount. Guess what? Do you think it can read the same card it just read? I am not just doing what I am doing because I’m mad, it is because of those type of experiences. I am a business man and I expect people to follow through with their claims and not scam me with little tricks like the no-card-present game. I suggest those of you who take large amounts like me start the same tactics to help create a case for the DOJ.
Judy
We used Square for about the last 4 months of 2011. We had no trouble with it at all. I know a lot of people want a phone # to call, but I can tell you 2 things;
Square responds right away to the e-mails.
2nd…I have another visa company we used before getting Square and I would spend no less than 30 minutes “on hold” every time I had to call. Now that’s frustrating!
If Square has to add personal to field phone calls….expect the rates to UP!
LAMAC
Can’t risk it. I’ll pass. One can not risk a reputation especially when you are dealing with refunding someone’s money. Customer service is so critical especially in this tight economy.
Jack Shelton
I have been reading a lot of stuff on this site and do have something to say about it. I have been using Square for about 1.5 years now. It has been really not to bad. I use them primarily for AMEX because of the rate I get with Square and the fact that they deposit it overnight instead of 7 days. I do have a problem with them on a charge back that has been resolved that has been taken care of. It was because a customer saw my name on his statement and not my company name. We resolved it with AMEX and I have a letter from them stating that its fixed. I have e-mailed the contract with my customer and the resolved papers from AMEX. It has been 4 months now and still they have $325.00 of my money. This is not breaking me. I would like to get it off my books. For the most part I am good with how it works but like many in here there customer service is absolutely awful. I guess I don’t understand how a company that is worth over one billion dollars can live like this.
I guess if a class action suit was brought against them it might change their way of thinking. It seems to me there is enough BS on this site that it might be worth investigating. Just saying.
Sean Hoffman
I will never do business with Square again. In fact, at this point I will do whatever it takes to make sure no one does. Sure, it’s convenient, but there are other companies offering the same convenience and they couldn’t possibly have the utterly dismal customer service that Square has.
I’m dealing with a chargeback from a customer who apparently had been a victim of fraud and disputed my legitimate charge along with the fraudulent ones on accident. Square asked for documentation and withdrew the funds from my bank account. I submitted all the evidence anyone could possibly hope for, including the customer’s signature on an invoice. I even called the customer who then assured me he’d cancelled the chargeback of our transaction with his bank.
That was SIX MONTHS AGO and I still have not received a resolution to the chargeback. In that whole time I’ve had many dozens, maybe hundreds, of emails and phone calls ignored. Only once have I received an email reply from Square which was over three months ago when an employee named Jessica replied to one of my MANY emails assuring me that the chargeback would be resolved within seven days. Since then, I’ve resorted to calling and emailing DAILY. No one ever answers the phone or responds to messages or emails.
One time someone at Square accidentally answered the phone and had to deal with my complaint directly. Guess what they did…put me on hold for 15 minutes then came back to say that someone would call me back shortly. What is shortly to Square? It’s been weeks.
Forget these clowns. Go with a company that actually wants your business and shows it.
Square has the absolute worst customer service of any company I’ve ever dealt with in my entire life. Avoid them at all costs since there are now viable alternatives. I couldn’t possible be more pissed and if anything remotely unusual happen with your money and Square, you will be pissed too.
Square does not publish their phone number because they don’t want to help their customers but here it is: 415-375-3176. I found it on one of the many Square complaint websites.
Lynn M
I am a stylist that booth rents. I thought it would make my life easier but it has been nothing but a headache ever since. I keep being told that my checking account hasn’t linked up yet they have deposited money into my account. To this day I still cannot accept credit cards and all I keep being told (when they bother to answer an email) is they don’t know why. I have since signed up with intuit-go Which is what I should have done in the first place!
anthony franklin
square is holding 1000.00 of my money. after we were told there were numerous chargeback on our account. we asked for proof. they sent one chargeback to us email. we sent them back invoices and proof and the customers signiture. this was not good enough. after many failed attemps to get info on other chargebacks. i emailed them 6 times. they never produced any other evidence. finally i received a email saying we are high risk. we will hold your funds for 180 days. until this is sorted out . and whatever is left we will send it to u. this is crazy. never experienced such a unprofessional company.
Kira Scott
kira scott
a few seconds ago
I purchased this square device and linked my bank account as required, I even did a test transaction for a nominal amount just to confirm this was a legit operation. Everything went well even the $10’s they issue for signing up went through. I went out of town to condct business and on 2/8/2012 had eight purchases that totaled around $1,800 and it was prior to 12pm PST. The following day I had one transaction for $800 and was made prior to 12 pm PST. again. Mind you EVERY transaction was made with a physical card swipe (I see it notes transactions without a card swipe than run over 1,000/ per week or during the intial 30 days will be subject to a thrity day hold. My transactions did not fall under this catagory) So day three (rather 36 hrs. plus) still no funds deposited. I went to the website…..then realized theres no phone number for the company…..so sent an email as they requested, no response as expected. I then searched for message boards and found tons of consumer complaints about how horrible the company is and how they hold your money to throw in short term investment accounts to profit off of the interest. I also found a phone number which I called from 9-6 EVERY HOUR to get a hold of the same woman DEBBIE every time I call. Only to be told they only allow you to speak with “technical support” and that account services only responds to emails and voice mails (which will still be responded via email) I spoke with DEBBIE over 4x’s which she continued to transfer me to voicemail even when I asked to speak with her manager. So in short they have my money and I have nothing! They try to make it seem as if its a major company yet their all sitting there in the same suite 104…..901 Mission Street San Francisco, CA. Morese when do you ever call a customer service or tech support line and get the same person every time. Most important since when can a “bank” or processing agency hold your money, not give any reason as to why, and then not allow you to contact them…..”dont call us, we’ll call you” So in short I got robbed via SQUARE DOWN!
Lynne Ralph
I have recommended Square Up to several people because I have had great success with it. It is frustrating, however, when I can’t get an internet connection and have to manually enter the card number later. That is not Square Up’s fault.
Kevin Cornelsen
As a contractor, I have large payments regularly. I thought the concept of the mobility of square was a great idea so I signed up. Bad idea. If you take payments larger than $1000 regularly, they will hold the payments. I had one transaction of $1400 that deposited within 24 hrs and then a transaction of $7500 from the same client thats been held for over a week now. It took me emailing for someone to even contact me to tell me that the account has had “suspicious activity”. Two transactions cannot show enough of a pattern to see ANYTHING suspicious. Now that I have been reading through reviews and the BBB, I will not be using Square once these last couple transactions post.
My wife uses square for our coffee stand and it works great with lots of small transactions.
Also, the fact that square has no phone number on the website is the biggest red flag to me. It took me an hour to find their phone number (415.375.3176). The first time I got through to Erik, and he transferred me to another “department”. I kept calling and havent been able to get to anyone else. Their initial disclosures are dishonest and their customer service is NON EXISTENT.
RATING – D
Jordan
Reader does not work and there is no phone number to contact. This company is not a legitimate business.
jerry
do not use this company they took there fee and stole my money and now they do ot want to give me my money
Vanessa Bryant
When I ordered my first one, it did take a long time. But I chopped it up to the demand being greater than they anticipated and they weren’t ready for the demand. The second one I ordered came in about a week. In the meantime, I would manually input the information need for the transaction. Also, you can now get the readers from Target, Wal-Mart and Best Buy for $9.99 and the purchase price is deposited into your bank account. That’s how my husband got his for his business.
Laurel Redd
(415) 375-3176 is the correct number :) its still working
phil
I very much regret signing on for this service. I have still not received a deposit that was made quite some time ago, nor have I received any response from the company regarding my complaints. I will certainly not be recommending this service to anyone, as it seems to have quite a few issues to resolve with their lack of customer service.
Bill
I just was notified that my account was closed for ‘high risk’ I have not used the account much .. a couple of charges $1 charges to demo it.. I demo the acount last week and then get a email aksing ‘what kind of customers” and couple other question I get a reply today saying that after the investigation they closed the account as higb risk.. never a disputed charge or any large amount on it… Am calling when they open..
Norrie Wake
Great article. Thanks for the research. I have not read all of the posts yet but I am curious if any other small merchant which has multiple items in inventory has encountered issues with the “item” portion of the program in the sales history tab. I have taken photos of each item and assigned written descriptions of each item yet when I look at the “sales history” or the downloaded “excel” file all that appears on the report is ” item, item, item”. The totals are correct, the tax has be calculated but there is no way to track inventory.
Anyone else experiencing this? Do you have a solution? I emailed “help” and was advised that the programer was working on this.
This is a great program but service and attention to its customers is its Achilles Heel.
Vanessa Bryant
You will have to type in a description at the time of the transaction in order for it to have an item description available.
Mary
If you have an iPad, you can keep photos and inventory. But, this is not supported on either iPhone or Andriod devices- you can’t access the photos or descriptions. I only use an iPad for sales, and iPhone to track deposits and access other information on my account, never use iPhone for sale…and my inventory, item descriptions and all are correct. If you use the phone app, you have to enter descriptions for each item and you can’t track inventory. Hopefully they will create an unified app for both phone and tablet devices.
harold
This company is holding 15,000 of my money and giving me the run around and now have stopped returning emails. They have no address or phone number, i have contacted the attorney general as well as my attorney to get my funds. they have held my money for over 2 months now and i can not run my business please do not use this company,. I have found several other companies with a customer service and contact numbers of real people!
carlr
Hello all, Carl again. I’m on my second swiper, the first I lost due to an unfortunate mistake on my part. I went to Walmart got another one. I drive a taxi, don’t have the high volume swipes I hear about in the trade shows but I due use the swiper often. I’ve never had a problem unless something was wrong with the persons card, swipes up or sideways both swiper always worked anywhere in and around the city I work at my phone gets service. I use a straight talk android, the only place I can’t get service is the area around the airport about 15 miles outside the city, so I swipe before I go there. Been using Square over a month now, no problems to report and still, two thumbs up for an awesome system. Where you can use square, your sales will rise.
Jill
To Phillip Parker from a budding entrepreneur: Thank you for writing such a great breakdown/review of the services out there! Very timely and exactly the information I needed.
Phillip CPO
Hi Jill, thanks for the kind words. It makes my day to get this kind of feedback. Best of luck to you in your new venture!
Jennifer
Did they refund finally go through? For mine it took longer than stated on the website and it wasn’t an amount over $1k. I know it will go through eventually, just email customer service.
Jessica
My experience with Square was great for the first week. I signed up on the advice of a client (I’m a photographer), and because I had a trade show coming up, I went out and bought two swipers from a Best Buy (the free one Square sends wouldn’t get here in time for the show). I wasn’t sure what to expect for the show, so I wanted to be prepared. Until then, I’d manually entered three different transactions and all were deposited the next morning into my checking account.
The day of the show arrives, and although I only had three transactions, the amounts totaled over $5,300. The swipers didn’t work. I tried them forwards and backwards, unplugged and replugged, two different android phones, etc. Nothing worked. I was disappointed because I know the percentage that Square takes would be larger, but not that big of a deal.
The real freak-out came when I got home and looked at my account to see how much the charge would actually come to, and saw that my funds would not be released until 2/14/12. So I dig through the website, and find the clause about the 30-day hold on transactions over $1,000 within a 7-day period.
Okay, so they’re covering their risk of chargebacks or whatever. I’m irritated that the clause isn’t a little more obvious to people like me who are in a hurry. Sure, I should’ve read the fine print more clearly. And that’s my bad.
However, I’m outraged at the fact that I’m being penalized for a shoddy product. I have to say clearly now that I only discovered this last night, and wrote to them this morning – so I haven’t gotten an answer yet. Also, I’m on Central time and they are Pacific, so they still have a chance to work it out with me. So while I wait, I get online and look for reviews/complaints and find this forum – and now I’m sufficiently freaked out. I’m terrified that I won’t get my money, or that I will have to explain some awful thing to my brand new clients – which could easily make them change their minds and cancel their contracts.
I’m really anxious to hear if anyone’s gotten a resolution from Square regarding an issue like this. Will they release the funds if there was a mechanical problem, or am I potentially screwed out of thousands here? Does anyone know how they’re handling faulty swipers?
Again, I can’t say anything too awful about them yet, but I am really afraid after reading this forum, and I am wondering if anyone’s encountered faulty swipers and what the outcome was… Any advice is appreciated!
Jessica
Update: I called Square at 11am (my time) and got through to a live person – THANK YOU, by the way, for posting the phone number! The man told me that he could see that I was approved for a $2000 limit/release, but that since today is a bank holiday, it will probably be released tomorrow.
As for the other $3300, he emailed me a link to apply for an accelerated raise on my limit…? I sent the info through and am waiting to hear back. He didn’t really address the issue with the readers, but after the suggestion of using a flat surface to lay the device down on in order to swipe, I will try that for next time and see what happens.
I will update on the status of my funds release as soon as I get an answer!
Jessica
YAY! Okay, now I can officially say that my experience, while a little uncertain for a small window there, was overall good. Square contacted me just now through email, approved my limit increase and is releasing my funds. Thank goodness…
I am happy to report that I did not get the bad customer service others have reported here. I got a quick response that left me satisfied with the end result. I will continue to use them, and take the advice about using the card reader/swiper on a flat surface and see if that makes a difference on future transactions.
Anna
Hi Jessica,
We are vendors at a major show and are experiencing the same issues. I wanted to ask if you had any additional numbers that you could post. any help would be greatly appreciated.
Best Reguards,
Anna Horn
Jessica
Hi Anna! I haven’t tried the flat-surface plan yet, so I don’t know – but I heard confirmation from yet another person that this helps. Also, I found out that several vendors in the trade show I was at had the same type of trouble – and I wonder now if any of it was related to internet or wifi connections being sketchy?
The end result is that Square did release my funds, and increased my limit (amount that won’t be held) to $5,000 in a 7-day period for all transactions (swiped or manually entered).
All was in my account the next morning after my original post.
Lauren
Jessica,
I am having the exact same problem do you happen to still have the link to the limit increase form?
Ray Ruiz
It’s not that I need Square to have a 1-800 toll free number. Almost all merchants have cell phones with free national calling included. I just need either someone to answer the phone. Also, a choice to order a replacement card reader device should be one of the recorded choices. I followed the directions online but it didn’t work.
carlrobinson
i drive a taxi, for me square is a great way to do business. where people don’t want to use cash the card is always available. if you don’t have a way take card payments you are losing out, square up bridged that gap for me. i linked a bank account and e-mail just to use with square up. went on line filled out the information asked. down loaded the app from the apps market. was up and running that same hour. the reader i got at a Walmart store, plug the reader in my phone punched in the code that came with it, next thing i know they put the money back in my account i paid for the reader. set it all up for free. the easy set up is awesome. just read and follow the instructions to set everything up and you will not have a problem. two thumbs up for square up, woohoo.
EJAZ WAHEED
Hi carl,
I am a cab driver here in chicago who just started using sqaure. My main gripe was the cab companies here were charging 5% out of my sales which average around $1200 a week plus the hassle of going to the cab company & waiting in line for one hour to get my money. Is there a way to increase the limit? My account was established in october 2010 however did not really use it until now.
niovel
Hi, I want to post my comments. I had a pretty good experience with Square Up, until they hold almost 2600 for more that 10 days already, amount were swiped, no keyed, as their agreement says all amount swiped will be in your account within 24 hours. I was doing business as Sole Proprietary, I created a business, I sent articles, invoices, EIN number, and still no money yet. the worst thing is that clients already start complaining about the merchandise, because they are from a foreign country they paid me in advance, but I can release merchandise until money is completely into my bank account. this service is so good, no credit check, or other questions about, (just the beginning) a and with this money holding they put down to earth all the good thing of service. any ways, still waiting for my almost 2600, hoping my clients keep understanding why their merchandise hasn’t even make to the ship yet. IU wonder if I can file a complaint with State of Florida?
Jennifer
A trick to use the phone swiper for me is to have the phone laying flat on a table to swipe the card, for whatever reason, it really only works for me like that. I eat at a lot of food trucks and those guys never have any trouble swiping my card, but I have trouble with all kinds. My volume is pretty low, so i don’t mind.
Square held about 500 of my funds for unswiped amounts over $1k in a 7 day period. I just recently asked for a lift and they obliged. You have to fill out some paperwork, just email them and they will get back to you in about 24 hrs with a link. It is essentially a credit check.
Otherwise, you have to wait the 30 days. My 30 days just passed and they deposited the money on schedule.
Barbara Sherman
I just called Square at 415-375-3176 and got right through to a customer service rep who was very knowledgable. This is the second time I have called and have gotten through both times. I have had no problems with their service, I just wanted to ask questions to be sure that I understood what I have read.
MJR
Some say, you may as well ask your cable company to process your merchant services for you. Everyone seems to be getting in on merchant services. Why would you trust your money to any institution that is not a bank in the situation of holding on to your money. At least you will have a live person to talk to or you can go to that bank if it is a local bank you are supporting. Also, make sure you UNDERSTAND COMPLETELY about interchange rates and fees before you choose which bank or institution you want merchant services with……very important!!! The more you know the better, not the more you think you know.
I hate to say it but you do get what you pay for. It’s not always about the best rate…..service is a large part of it right? It seems like there is a huge customer service issue with square. But everyone has customer service issues. Maybe Square should charge a little more so they can have a larger customer service team to take car of all of your complaints……or maybe Square should hire Laurel because Laurel is very knowledgable about their product and they could use someone like that who absolutely believes in the product. That’s part of having a great costomer service team…….believing in the product
I’m sure Square is great to use if you don’t process a lot of transactions. Hell I would use it just because the concept is cool but there are flaws :( But for the majority of small businesses this would not work. I’m sure over time, there will be a system similar to this one that will put everyone out of business in the future.
And yes I do work in merchant services so it is pretty funny to hear what people think they know about it… I cant fully disclose which bank but I can tell you that Forbes rated us the #1 bank in the country………..2 years in a row
Marques
I’m a little confused on your calculation here. It looks like you are adding regular interchange+ assesment fee with debit interchange+ assesment fee together?
Phillip CPO
The calculation in my example is: (Debit Interchange Fee + Fraud Prevention Fee + Ad Valorem Tax + Dues & Assessment Fee + Provider Markup). It should also be noted that the Dues & Assessments fees for Visa and MasterCard are now 0.11%.
Marques
so….0.05%+.21+.35% would be an example for a debit transaction correct?
Phillip CPO
Well, sort of. It looks like you are quoting it as Debit Interchange + Provider Markup, which is a simplified quote. Since the other fees are tiny and non-negotiable, I believe that it is fine to quote it this way.
Marques
so is this a good rate?
Phillip CPO
It’s reasonable depending on your processing volume. If you process more than $15,000 per month you should be able to get it lower. If you haven’t already, I recommend downloading my ebook, “Fee Sweep.” Currently, you can get it for free by “Liking” my Facebook page.
MJR
I was just checking. This is based on an avg ticket of $50 and an annual vol of about 1 mil mostly debit transactions so thats about 1% if converted into fixed or blended rate.
Daniel Hedges
I love this service. I got my money right away and was able to do away with $45 buck a month plus fees on transactions. If you are a small business and handle a few transactions a month this is the service for you…hands down
jennifer
One other point: TOS state refunds larger than $1k could take up to business days. I do not fall into this category.
Sam
More of a theoretical point but if the charge is being disputed you shouldn’t have access to the funds.. Nor should the person disputing the charge. If you were a fraudulent business the customer would be “FOL”(Fresh Outta Luck) and vice versa.
Dana Basham
I’m having the same problem! have you gotten a hold of anyone or got your problem fixed?
Dana basham
How long does it usually take for them to respond to emails, twitter, facebook, phone calls? I’ve done all three hoping to get a call ASAP. They are holding several deposits of mine…I had NOOOO idea when I signed up that they held deposits if you did more than $1,000 a week and didn’t swipe the cards. I do photography and 90% of my customers pay by credit card by phone. Being that this is Christmas time, it’s my busy season…and now I”m learning that they are going to hold my money till JANUARY! I was hoping to use some of that money for Christmas shopping and would love to get it deposited asap! But after reading everything I’ve read…I’m worried I’ll never get a reply and just have to wait 30 days to get my deposits.
Melissa Kelly
I read and understood the payment agreement. What I don’t understand is how others could not have seen this? I would think merchants would be very careful about agreeing to terms when they haven’t read everything. It’s not fair that square would get a negative rating because the merchant neglected to read fully the terms. We’re all business people just like square. Would you like it if one of your customers reported negatively to BBB about you because they misunderstood the terms they agreed to?
Dana Basham
Melissa..my husband and I both read EVERYTHING we could find about square before signing up (SEVERAL months ago). We are both business owners and don’t sign up for just anything without reading everything we can. I found on here some where that the information about the hold was not really put where it was easy to find on their site. Only now is it made more noticable. Once i got back on their site…it might as well screamed it. When I signed up..it was not. As far as the BBB….the only thing I read on that was from here. Guess you are replying to the above comment. ??
as far as my experience…i did get a hold of someone the next day…finally. They sent me a request to raise my limit…I filled it out, sent it back and had an approval in 2 days. my deposit was sent the same day. Since then, no issues. totallly happy here. But when they are holding $955…which is a lot for a small business..AND saying they are gonna hold it for a month. I was pretty upset. Not to mention, you would think that a company that is dealing with credit card transactions would have someone available 24/7…at least that’s my opinion.
Little Book Of Love
Hi Laurel,
Did it take you a while for your first payments to enter your bank account? Mine was under $100 and while the transaction fees came out immediately, I’m wondering if it takes up to 30 days for the actual deposit to take place?
Keith R. H.
Donna,
Google Teamac, Inc. Great people who deal mainly with artist/crafters.
Alex
Phillip,
My wife and I may do 3-6 trade/business expos per year. Sale dental related products/services/gift certicates. Feel like we lose “impulse” purchases without a POS system in place. Transactions could range from $10’s to $100’s per. Some shows are 2 day events. Have iphones and ipads but currently no wifi on ipads.
Low volume with potential for high sales makes me wonder about the $1000 hold clause in the contract. Could you explain in more detail and adivse of you opinion. Thanks
Alex
altajoe
Sorry to be a bother, but I have a question for those users who access via WiFi rather than cell;
When you send a receipt via email or text message what method are you using?
Thanks
ejaz waheed
I drive a cab so many people when asked for a receipt just want a sms, only a handful email but most of them just want to skip it.
Laurel Redd
I looked at intuit but the charge a yearly security fee of about $40
mark bloomstein
trying to run a card for the first time after receiving email saying my account was linked and the money transfer times out with no explanation and their customer service mailbox is full. WTF!!
Keith R. H.
Greg,
First off, i’m laughing to myself because this is the first time that i’ve actually taken the forum in commenting on an article on-line. So hold my hand while i do this LOL.
The company that I use is called Teamac, Inc. (based in PA) Like i’ve mentioned, they deal mainly with the Arts & Craft Show community. I’m sure you can Google them for more information.
The CEO is Guy McDonald and he and his staff are wonderful and don’t be surprised if Guy answers the phone.
As a courtesy, you can mention me, Keith R. Huettemann of Birch & Burlap. (Mention that i’m the “blonde” who wanted to know why there was an extra deposit two months ago! LOL)
I’m only mentioning this because of their 16 yrs of personal and professional one-on-one service. Like i mentioned, when i was a new to accepting CCs, we started out with the inexpensive “Knuckle-buster” system. Eventually we grew to having the wireless swipe terminal. Guy and his people have gone above and beyond for many of us.
Just like long-time friends, thats how you keep long time clients
Happy Thanksgiving!
Phillip CPO
As stated in the comment policy below, this comment section is reserved for user reviews and helping others only. This user’s I.P. address was marked as spam because he was trolling and hurling insults at other users, which is a violation of the policy. Laurel R. is not affiliated with this website and had nothing to do with Kris’ comments being filtered out. Comments that contain insults and name-calling that accidentally become posted to the thread will be removed because they are not helpful to other readers, which is why a few other comments have been deleted. Despite Kris’ false accusations, we have allowed the above comment because it contains an actual experience that some may find helpful.
Laurel Redd
The customer service number is (415) 375-3176. Try calling them?
Laurel Redd
Have you called this number yet? (415) 375-3176
Any response of resolution yet?
Willie Ray
They claim to deposit the money the next day if you have a business account. Well I just did a small transaction of $150.00, had to wait one week before the money was deposited, I’m glad I didn’t closed my merchant service account.
Laurel Redd
They INITIATE the deposit in one business day – it takes time for the money to transit between banks and to post to your banking account. It usually takes 3-4 business days longer if holidays or weekends are involved.
Richard Voorhees
All of my deposits have gone smoothly. We switched to a credit union last year and they are very efficient with the transfers. We use to do business with a local bank until we discovered that they were holding onto our own account to account transfers for several days which caused numerous problems. Our credit union has been excellent. Perhaps your bank is like my old one use to be and they want to have some extra use of your funds for a few extra days. Wouldn’t be the first time.
SCOTT
Square is the worst company on the planet!! They accept funds from customer credit cards, then say there is a limit, then take forever to refund. Then you call them, having to go to site first for a stupid code, then they lie and say they are calling back. Then they don’t call and you go to try to call and it says THIS CUSTOMER IS NOT ELIGIBLE TO CALL!! THE INVOICE PLATFORM IS A JOKE, THE WHOLE COMPANY SUCKS!!
Greg
Thanks for the feedback Laurel.
One thing that I am still wondering about: if the buyer signs a detailed receipt that acknowledges that there is no return or refund option, how can their credit card company justify a chargeback?
In a dispute it would seem to me that a buyer accepting a no return/no refund sale would not have grounds to expect a chargeback in their favor.
Oregonian
Nineteen reviews? That is a mere drop in t;he bucket compared to the number of clients they have. If they only have 19 bad reviews then I don’t think anything of it. First the squeaky wheel gets the grease and there are always complainers and rarely do the happier people go to BBB to post! Just some food for thought.
Laurel Redd
Greg what you have there for precautions should be fine :) I posted a list of ways to protect yourself earlier on this forum – you might want to check that out :)
The only other thing is that – I would also suggest only taking credit cards in person and not ever via email or by phone when dealing with Craig’s list. Other than that your list looks pretty good!
Dena
Yes, and you can text it too.
Autumn
Thanks, Dena!
Laurel Redd
Shawn,
You can get a reader at Best Buy or any Apple store or immediate use. If you do so you will have one immediately rather than having to wait for it. It should make things much easier. You should always encourage cash but hope that this will help you make an informed decision. I try never to send people to ATMs since it is a much bigger hassle for them, generally costs them a fee and sometimes I don’t see them come back. I’d rather take a card then send someone for cash.
Tyler
Aaron,
With the recent changes due to the Durbin Amendment your rate on average should effectively be much lower than 2.9%!! The company I am with charges 2.75% as its highest rate only if it is a Non-Qualified transaction.
Thomas
I’m shopping for a mobile CC processing solution.
Most of the transactions are in $75-300 range on average 2 -3 times a day. Can anyone recomment a particular company for that? Since I’m new to this it surprises me a bit that my SSN#, Tax id etc need to be disclosed … is it a standard procedure
Phillip CPO
Hi Thomas,
Considering that you can have either option, will you be swiping the credit card the majority of the time or typing it in?
Laurel Redd
Thomas,
As for the SSN# and Tax ID any reputable Merchant Services or Bank working with you to set up services for Credit Cards will ask you for the same information to process cards for business accounts. They do need to check your credit and verify that you are a legitimate business.
As to the transaction volume – Same Question swiped or keyed cards – it will make a big difference if your transactions tend to be over $1000 a week.
Thomas
Thanks you Laurel for your feedback.
Most of my transactions will be entered manually
i.e customers will call and provide CC information. Far fewer transactions will be through the CC reader. At this time having a CC transaction volume over $1000 is more of a goal than reality, lol
Thomas
Dave
Well my first time worked, thank heaven. Swiped $ 660 on Friday and got $ 641.85 on Tuesday.
Last July I swiped a total of $ 106 with Card Data Services, Inc., and they charged me $ 130.46 (75.46 + 55.00 “annual fee”). Had to place a stop payment on my account for that company.
Bill Williams
No phone number, no email.
If these guys are trying to look like a scam, they are succeeding.
They ask for my company’s bank account number, routing number, all kinds of info, yet they don’t provide such innocuous info as a phone number.
Fortunately, I found this out early on. I tried to enter my routing number for my Chase account, and their webform wouldn’t accept it. Then tried to call them – no phone number posted. Tried to email them or click on some sort of help link, and just get a bunch of faqs.
On the humorous side, I’m sure “What is your damn phone number” is a frequently asked question, but the answer wasn’t there.
Good grief. I’m shopping around for another service. Can’t even contact them to send their little do-dad back, so I guess I’ll use it as a keychain.
Terry
I highly recommend this device. Very easy to use and fast payments. Beats the hell out of using Intuit Merchant!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!