Debit Blocks and Negative Balances
What is a debit block?
When you tell a Square representative that Square isn’t authorized to debit your bank account, you’re effectively revoking consent for us to make any ACH credits or debits to your linked bank account. Until you provide us with new authorization, Square will be unable to credit your bank account for payments you’ve processed. We’ll also be unable to debit your bank account for refunds, disputed payments, or other Square subscription services.
This is in line with our Payment Terms (and does not constitute an amendment or waiver of the Block, Inc. Payment Terms). If you like, you can review Sections 2, 10, 16, 18 and 19 of the Terms, which lays out your liability for chargebacks. You should be aware that Block, Inc. reserves the right to pursue a negative balance via all available channels if we can’t reach a mutually agreeable repayment plan.
Why do I need to remove my debit block?
You have an outstanding negative balance in your Square account. We’ve got a couple of options to help you resolve your balance.
Pay off your balance in a lump sum.
Work with one of our Recovery Representatives to create a repayment plan that works for you.
Offset your negative balance by taking payments on your Square account.
Make a payment right now through the Square Dashboard.
But until you re-authorize Square to make ACH transfers, you won’t be able to address your negative balance using your linked bank account. You’ll also be unable to receive deposits to your bank account as usual, after you’ve resolved your negative balance. Follow the instructions below to get started.
How do I remove my debit block?
To re-authorize Square to make ACH transfers to and from your bank account, respond directly to the email we sent you (the one that led you to this article) and let us know you’d like us to resume transfers. Please provide us with a date on which we can resume initiating debits and credits to your account.
What if I don’t want to provide authorization?
If you’d like to make a payment with your debit or credit card over the phone, please call us at (415) 653-1726 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. PT, Monday through Friday.
Alternatively, you can make a payment towards your negative balance with a check or money order. Please send it to the following address:
Block, Inc.
Attn: Recovery
1455 Market Street, Suite 600
San Francisco, CA 94103
Be sure to include the email address associated with your Square account directly on the check, and please respond to the email we sent you to let us know when the check is in the mail.
What does ACH mean in this context?
The National Automated Clearing House Association is a U.S. financial network used for electronic payments and money transfers. Automated Clearing House payments are a way to transfer money from one bank account to another without using paper checks, credit card networks, wire transfers, or cash.
You can think of ACH payments working in a similar way to your automated monthly phone bill payment. When you sign up for autopay with your phone company, you provide checking account information (routing and account number) and sign a recurring payment authorization. That authorization lets your phone company’s bank and your bank to communicate, and transfer your money from your bank account to the phone company’s bank account.
It’s a bit more complex with Square, but the principle is similar. If you were to call your phone company and revoke your payment authorization, they wouldn’t be able to access your bank account to resolve your outstanding phone bill. Learn more about ACH payments.