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Fees and Payments FAQ

We put together a Square payments fees overview to help educate sellers on Square processing fees along with a list of corresponding FAQ about processing payments with Square.

Square Fees and Accepted Cards

What are your fees?

  • The Square standard processing fee is 2.6% + 10¢ for contactless payments, swiped or inserted chip cards, and swiped magstripe cards.
  • Payments that are manually keyed-in, processed using Card on File, or manually entered using Virtual Terminal have a 3.5% + 15¢ fee.
  • Invoices cost 2.9% + 30¢ for Invoices Plus users, and 3.3% + 30¢ for Free users.

If you are processing payments for CBD transactions as a part of the Square CBD Program, different fees will apply. You can view processing fees for CBD transactions in the CBD Program FAQ.

If you purchased your Square Register before August 20, 2019, your contactless payments, swiped or inserted chip cards, and swiped magstripe cards processed through Square Register have a 2.5% + 10¢ fee.

There are no fees for recording cash, check, or gift certificate payments.

There are no monthly or hidden fees for credit card processing. All fees are deducted before funds are transferred to your linked bank account.

Note: Processing fees are deducted before each transfer and cannot be charged on a monthly basis. You can view your total fees on a monthly basis from your online Square Dashboard.

Learn more about how processing fees and rates are calculated.

Payment Questions

How do I accept payments from my laptop or desktop?

You can accept card payments from your laptop or desktop computer in a couple of different ways:

Find answers to questions about your Square account.

Where can I see my free processing credit?

If you’ve referred, or have been referred by another business to use Square, you’ll see fee reimbursements reflected in your transfer summaries and in the Transactions tab on your online Square Dashboard or from the POS app.

To view the Transfer Report:

  • Visit Banking > Balance > Transfer Reports in your online Square Dashboard > select a transfer.
  • You’ll see fees reimbursed in the Free Processing row of the transfer summary.

To view in the Transactions tab:

  • Visit the Transactions tab on your online Square Dashboard or from the POS app.
  • You’ll see the total fees reflected in the summary section.

Note: If you are using a mobile device to view the Transactions tab, use landscape orientation or view on desktop for best results.

You can also see how much free processing credits you have left under the Get Free Processing section of your Square Dashboard.

Learn more about the Square referral program.

When will my money be transferred?

You can choose to receive your funds through one of our three transfer options. By default, your sales are transferred within 1-2 business days using our next-business-day transfer schedule. If you need access to your funds faster, you can use instant transfers or same-day transfer to immediately send your funds to your bank account.

With Square Debit Card, you can take a payment and the money you earn is reflected in your balance. You can spend that money with your Square Card anywhere that Mastercard debit cards are accepted.

Check out your transfer options with Square.

Can I manually enter, or key in, a payment?

Yes. If the card isn’t present, or you’re unable to swipe it, you can manually key in card payments without Square Reader. Other available options are sending your customer a Square Invoice or processing the payment using Virtual Terminal.

Learn how merchants protect themselves from fraud and chargebacks with safety tips for manually entered transactions.

How do I provide a receipt?

Send your customer a receipt via email or SMS when you process their payment, or later on from the Square app and the online Square Dashboard. If the option to send a receipt isn’t given after a transaction, that means your customer is already subscribed to Automatic Receipts from Square sellers.

View step-by-step instructions to send and print receipts.

Can I process a refund?

Yes. Refunds processed through Square on a mobile device must be requested and completed within 120 days of the original transaction. Payments refunded via your online Square Dashboard can be refunded within one year of the original transaction date. Once this window has passed, you must issue refunds outside of Square.

Learn how to process refunds.

How do I delete an accidental payment?

While you aren’t able to delete any transactions that have been processed through Square, you can process a refund on any payment to keep your books in order.

I’m having trouble with my internet connection. Can I still accept card payments?

Yes. If your internet connection becomes interrupted or temporarily unavailable, enable Offline Mode to accept card payments. The Square app securely stores the credit card details for 24 hours until the device is reconnected to a Wi-Fi network.

Note: You cannot accept offline payments when processing with Virtual Terminal.

Why is my customer’s card being declined?

Cards can be declined by the card-issuing bank or by Square if any information is entered incorrectly. Try these payment troubleshooting tips.

Why does my customer see a pending charge?

Incomplete payments may temporarily appear on your customer’s credit card statement, but they’re not actual charges and should fall off your customer’s statement in a few days. It‘s the card-issuing bank’s responsibility to release funds from pending charges. This process can take anywhere from 2-7 business days depending on the card-issuing bank’s processing speeds.

How do I add a note to a payment?

Notes on payments are a great way of providing additional information to item descriptions and itemizing custom amount transactions. View steps for adding notes on payments.