Square Review

Merchant Maverick's Rating: To Be Determined (TBD)

Last Updated: August 16th, 2011.

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Overview:
Square (also known as Square Up, SquareUp.com and Square, Inc.) is a relatively new company based out of San Francisco, Ca. Founded by Jack Dorsey, whom is also the founder of another well-known company called Twitter.

Square is both a mobile payment processing solution (via iPhone/smartphone), and a cash register for retail merchants (via iPad).

Here's what I like about them:

• You can get up and running pretty quick. Their approval process is faster than most other providers.
• There are no monthly fees or lengthy contracts.
• Their pricing is very transparent. 2.75% per swipe for card-present transactions. 3.5% + 15¢ per transaction for card-not-present (CNP). That's it! Plain and simple.
• Because you can use Square on your smartphone or iPad, you can process transactions anywhere and at any time.

Here's what I don't like about them:

• Their processing limits make life difficult for the larger merchant. For example, if you process more than $1000 in card-not-present (CNP) transactions per week, anything above that $1000 will be held for 30-days. Although they are willing to work with you in raising those limits, for someone that needs to process more than $1000 right out the gate, this can pose some problems. See the Common Complaints section for more info.
• Their pricing is not ideal for those who expect to process a lot of card-not-present (CNP) transactions. Square is best for those who know they will always have physical access to their customer's card, so they can swipe it and get a signature. Otherwise, they'll be paying a pretty penny for each sale. 3.5% + 15¢ per transaction to be exact.

I didn't give Square a rating yet because they're still very new. I also want to hear what you guys have to say about them, so don't forget to leave your own personal review below.

Btw, here's a cool calculator that let's you compare Square vs. traditional merchant account fees.

Date Established:
2009.

Location:
San Francisco, California.

Domain Name(s):
www.squareup.com.

Parent/Partner Company:
Square, Inc. is not a subsidiary of any other company.

Type:
Registered ISO/MSP.

Acquiring Bank(s) (Acquirer):
Chase Paymentech.

Payment Processor(s):
Chase Paymentech.

Payment Gateway(s):
N/A.

Trust Symbols:
You can find the Square BBB profile here. It has an "A-" rating as of this review, with 10 complaints in the last 36 months.

Negative Reviews:
Square is a new company, so you won't find too many complaints. Searching the usual complaints sites like RipOffReport, ComplaintsBoard, etc... will return a few results. This thread on ComplaintWire reflects quite a few customer experiences, both good and bad.

See below for common complaints.

Common Complaints:
Most complaints revolve around four main points...

• $1000 card-not-present limit: If you process more than $1000 in card-not-present (CNP) transactions per week, anything above that $1000 will be held for 30-days. Merchants can apply to have the CNP limit raised as well.
• Withholding of funds for high dollar transactions: Big ticket transactions may throw up a red flag with Square's underwriting department. If that happens, then they may hold those funds for an undetermined amount of time. Make sure you let them know ahead of time if you plan on processing high dollar transaction amounts.
• Poor customer service: There have been mixed reviews about this. When Square first started, their customer service was pretty poor, but it seems like they're getting better as time goes on. Either way, expect some sort of delay in response from their CS team. As a side-note, I personally reached out to Square in regards to their $1000 limits, and they responded to me within a couple hours.

Verifiable Testimonials/References:
You can find quite a few video testimonials on the Square website.

Security/Privacy:
The SquareUp.com website is secured by Verisign.

Customer Service:
I've read a few complaints about Square's customer service. Many of those complaints revolve around Square's response time. Square relies mostly on email and Twitter based support, which might explain it, but to be honest, I personally contacted them via email and received a response the same day.

The lack of a visibly displayed 800 number was another issue for some. For those that want to call Square, try (415) 375-3176.

Contract Duration:
No contract.

Cancellation Fee:
No cancellation fee.

Interchange-Plus Pricing:
Square does not offer Interchange-plus. They offer a flat-rate of 2.75% per swipe. If you enter the card information manually, then that rate jumps to 3.5% + 15¢ per transaction.

Seasonal Downtime:
There are no fixed monthly fees with Square, so if you don't process, you won't be charged.

Product Offering:
Retail Credit/Debit, POS, Mobile Payment Processing (iPhone, iPad, Android platforms).

Specialty:
Mobile Payment Processing (iPhone, iPad, Android platforms).

Don't forget to leave your review and rating in the comment section.