does anyone have a square reader??.?

[Anonymous]

i was wondering if anyone has the square reader ?? how does it work exactly is it free? it explains on the website but ill rather hear from someone who actually uses one

[nyancat]

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@Anonymous wrote:

i was wondering if anyone has the square reader ?? how does it work exactly is it free? it explains on the website but ill rather hear from someone who actually uses one

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I use Square for my business. The low-end magnetic stripe reader is free, but you pay processing charges of course. The new chip reader will be $29, the new chip USB reader (for Square Stand) will be $39 and the Square Stand itself is $99. You need a smartphone for the basic readers, and an iPad for Square Stand. Thus, Square Stand with EMV will end up costing you quite a bit, but it's a very nice POS solution. Processing fees are high percentage-wise, but with no monthly and no fixed amount (you pay the same percentage on $1 debit transactions even), it's been a great solution for me.

[Anonymous]

so there 2 different ones? one for ipad and one for smart phone? the square stand is 39$ and 100$ ????

[Anonymous]

I hate square, they hold my fund( around $5000) for some stupid security resoans for about 65 days  ! on that time they hadn't any phone customer services / only emails and they responds my first email after 21 days :/ So becarfull 

[Anonymous]

Yeah square is really bad about holding funds. I had them hold 6k for 90 days after I provided them with everything they asked and more. I'll personally never use them again.

[nyancat]

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@Anonymous wrote:

so there 2 different ones? one for ipad and one for smart phone? the square stand is 39$ and 100$ ????

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There are two processing options - a headphone jack reader (currently free, new version that is EMV compliant will be $29) and an iPad stand with a built in swiper ($99, and will need a $39 USB EMV reader to avoid counterfeit liability shift by next October).

I've had no issues whatsoever with Square.

It may be important to you to note that Square's hardware will NOT provide a PIN pad, and this means that for Mastercard/Amex/Discover transactions you will be liable if you are presented with a chip and PIN card after next October and it turns out the card was stolen. Given that chip and PIN cards are rare in the US, and that stolen card fraud is rare - and can be reduced by checking signatures properly - this is a very minor issue.

EMVco approved PIN entry would add a great deal to the cost, and given the lack of chip and PIN cards in the US I can understand why they're skipping this. It is also worth noting that Visa does NOT require merchants to have PIN pads to avoid any liability.

[Anonymous]

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@nyancat wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

so there 2 different ones? one for ipad and one for smart phone? the square stand is 39$ and 100$ ????

---

There are two processing options - a headphone jack reader (currently free, new version that is EMV compliant will be $29) and an iPad stand with a built in swiper ($99, and will need a $39 USB EMV reader to avoid counterfeit liability shift by next October).

I've had no issues whatsoever with Square.

It may be important to you to note that Square's hardware will NOT provide a PIN pad, and this means that for Mastercard/Amex/Discover transactions you will be liable if you are presented with a chip and PIN card after next October and it turns out the card was stolen. Given that chip and PIN cards are rare in the US, and that stolen card fraud is rare - and can be reduced by checking signatures properly - this is a very minor issue.

EMVco approved PIN entry would add a great deal to the cost, and given the lack of chip and PIN cards in the US I can understand why they're skipping this. It is also worth noting that Visa does NOT require merchants to have PIN pads to avoid any liability.

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Checking signatures properly? Heck, my sig changes practically every time I write..

[Anonymous]

Only people that get their funds held are MSers. I have been using square for my business with no problems.

If your a legit business, get the stand one because the handheld reader will sometimes not work. If you enter cc number manually, the process fee is a lot more.

Make sure you have a backup processor just in case. I have PayPal here and amazon local as backup.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:
Only people that get their funds held are MSers. I have been using square for my business with no problems.

If your a legit business, get the stand one because the handheld reader will sometimes not work. If you enter cc number manually, the process fee is a lot more.

Make sure you have a backup processor just in case. I have PayPal here and amazon local as backup.

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I'm not sure what an "MSer" is, but I have a legitimate business with a physical location. I provided them all of the government info, tax info, articles of incorporation, etc., and they said you're good to go and released the first batch. Used it again the next day and they put me through the same thing again and this time they closed my account. I gave them reciepts, customer's phone number, pictures of the work done, invoices - everything i could thing of. all transactions the card was present and signature matched card. No chargebacks ever, no disputes ever. 

[Anonymous]

I do. It's good for businesses with low or infrequent processing activity because there are no fees other than the flat percent. Square isn't the lowest rate amongst mobile payment processors, but they have been around the longest and they regularly integrate new features. You are likely to run in to some holds or requests for documentation if you key in card numbers or are processing high dollar payments. So if your cash flow is very tight, this could be a problem.

Shop around to see which company best meets your needs depending on rates, device compatibility, availability of funds, and ways to contact customer service.