Use payment methods on file with Square Invoices
About invoice payment methods on file
Customers can securely pay for single or recurring invoices by adding and storing a payment method on file to your customer’s profile in Customer Directory. There are two options available: Card on File and Bank Account on File.
Before you begin
You can safely add, store, and charge the payment method on file from Square Dashboard, Square Invoices app, and Square Point of Sale app.
For a recurring invoice, the card on file will be charged on the due date of each recurring invoice. If Card on File is changed or expired, you can edit that invoice series to ensure the right card is being charged.
If the Card on File fails, a new invoice will be sent allowing the customer to enter new card information, as well as save the new card information for future invoices.
Store a card on file for invoice payments
There are two ways to save payment cards for invoices — you can save the information or customer’s can choose to save their payment information when paying an invoice.
- Sign in to your Square Dashboard and click Payments > Invoices > Send an invoice.
- Select an existing customer from your Customer Directory or enter a new name and email address.
- Under Payment options, toggle on Allow customer to save payment methods on file. You can also click Add a card to manually enter the card details during invoice creation.
- Enter the rest of the invoice details.
- Click Send.
When your customer pays their invoice, they’ll see the option to save their payment card with your business. If they opt to save their payment, their profile in your Customer Directory will update automatically.
- Open the Square Invoices app.
- Tap ≡ More > Customers > (•••) to Create New Customer or select an existing customer.
- Under Card on File, tap Add Card and choose:
- Credit or debit card: Enter the card details, including the expiration date and CVV. Also enter the customer’s billing/ZIP code and email address. Tap Save.
- Gift card: Enter the gift card number and the customer’s email address. Tap Save.
- A confirmation message will appear. Tap Done to return to the customer profile.
Store a bank account on file for invoice payments
Automatic Clearing House (ACH) is a network for electronic funds transfers among US financial institutions. With Bank Account on File, your customers can securely store their bank account information to your Customer Directory and pay by ACH transfer.
To enable this feature, check ACH bank transfer and toggle on Allow customer to save payment cards on file in Step 3 of create and send invoices. This will allow your customer to manually add their bank details as you cannot add customer bank details from your Square account.
Bank Account on File may be applied to invoice payments for a recurring invoice series like a Card on File. A buyer must approve the bank charge of the first invoice of the recurring series. Subsequent invoices of the same recurring series will be automatically charged.
Charge a card on file for an invoice payment
With a payment card on file, you can manually add a payment to outstanding invoices to charge your customer’s saved payment information.
- Sign in to your Square Dashboard and click Payments > Invoices > Invoices.
- Click the unpaid invoice or click (•••) then Take a payment.
- Confirm the payment amount and click Payment method > Card on file.
- Add an optional note to the customer or a personal internal note.
- Toggle Send email receipt to customer on/off.
- Click Charge.
A customer profile must be attached to the invoice and have a card saved on file to proceed via the Square Invoices app.
- From the Square Invoices app, tap Invoices.
- Filter Outstanding invoices to locate the invoice the customer would like to pay.
- Tap Add payment.
- Confirm the payment amount. Tap Next.
- Tap Card on File, then tap Charge next to the saved card on file. Tap Confirm twice.
- If the customer is present, ask them to sign on your device to confirm payment authorization. Tap Continue.
- If the customer is not present, leave the signature field blank and tap Continue.
- A digital receipt will automatically send to the customer’s email address as listed on their customer profile.
- Sign in to your Square Dashboard and click Payments > Invoices > Invoices.
- Click Create invoice.
- Select an existing customer or create a new customer.
- Add line items to the invoice.
- Under Payment options, choose to Charge payment card on file, Charge bank account, Do not charge a payment method on file, or Charge Gift Card (if applicable).
- Finish filling in the invoice and select either Schedule or Save as Draft.
If you select Save as Draft, your scheduled invoice will not be automatically sent, and you’ll need to select Schedule to determine when it will be delivered.
Your customer’s card will be charged on the selected date, and they’ll receive an emailed copy of the paid invoice to notify them their card was charged. Funds will be deposited to your linked bank account following your deposit schedule.