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PROS:
CONS:
Square is a financial services company based in San Francisco. The company has an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau (BBB).
Square Register is a free POS app that is compatible with both iOS and Android devices, being one of the most advanced mobile processing solutions on the market. The app is best tailored for small businesses and businesses that are just getting started.
Square was founded in 2009, but launched its first application only one year later. One of its best qualities is the fact that it doesn’t require a monthly fee. The company is very transparent when it comes to advertising and pricing and you can find all the fees and information you need in their sales copy.
Square accepts all the major credit cards, such as Visa, Mastercard, Discover and American Express.
With Square register customers can pay, sign and leave a tip directly on your device.
Although the app is compatible with Windows, Android and Mac, it is optimized for iPads. There are some features that only work from an iPad, such as receipt printing.
The interface is somewhat minimalistic, easy to use and straightforward. There are also a lot of resources available, which will walk you through different tasks.
Processing sales is the biggest strength of Square. The app can create and send digital receipts via email or text message, it can apply discounts and issue refunds, manage tips, track inventory in real time, connect to a cash drawer, code scanner or receipt printer and many others. It can also process swiped payments offline and sync up when you are online again.
Square has an extensive list of add-ons and integrations, in areas such as accounting, e-commerce, invoicing, employee management, inventory and so on.
Here are some of them: QuickBooks Online, Kashoo Accounting, Xero, Zoho Books, Big Commerce, Woo Commerce, Weebly, ShipStation, DEAR Inventory, Stitch Labs, Breeze Works, Jobber, Deputy, Humanity, HomeBase, Zapier and others.
Your Square account also comes with Square Analytics. You can run reports for your sales, best-selling items, best customers, employee hours and so on and you can download them as CSV files.
One drawback is the signup process which is not the most efficient and intelligent. The signup process is way too simple and the only fraud protection they have is to place fund holds on suspicious transactions (especially large ones). More often than not, these holds are spontaneous and with no advance notice to merchants, which can be frustrating; there holds generated hundreds of complaints so far.
Square offers EMV/NFC Bluetooth-powered card readers for $49 and there is also a free basic magstripe reader included. Another accessory is the EMV-only headphone jack card reader, which can be purchased for $29. iOS devices also work with the Miura M010 reader, which is chip-and-pin, unlike their EMV/NFC reader, which is only chip-and-signature. Miura costs $129 and if you also want a dock, you have to pay an extra $30.
Other add-ons are the employee management which is $5/month per employee and email marketing, starting at $15/month. Gift cards start at $2 per card and get cheaper as you order more.
In terms of processing limits, merchants have a $50,000 limit per transaction, but you can encounter issues even at lower amounts. Square actually advises to keep transactions below $3,000.
There are no hidden fees or monthly minimum. You just have to pay 2.75% of your swiped transaction, 3.5% + 15c for keyed-in card payments and 2.9% + 30c for online transactions. There are no locked-in contracts or early termination fees.
Phone: 1 (855) 700-6000
Social media: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/square
Twitter: https://twitter.com/square
Customer support is not the best quality of Square. Phone support is not 24/7 available; you can only contact them Monday through Friday, from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Pacific Time. What’s worse is the fact that they are not available outside their business hours not even for customers who are willing to pay an additional fee. Those hours apply to all clients, no matter what type of account or sales volume they have. Moreover, phone support is only available for merchants who obtained their customer code, at square.com/code. If your account was deactivated you can’t get a code, hence you can’t get phone support. So if they have any issues such as fund holds, they may find it difficult to get an immediate solution to their problems.
You can also contact them via email or their ticket system. They claim to answer emails within 24 hours, but you may wait for 2 to 3 days, in our experience.
There is also a help center on their website, with resources that describe different features.
Our editorial staff evaluates products and services independently, but Best Review Guide may earn money when you click on links. Read our advertising disclosure.
By: Hailey | Last updated January 23, 2021 
