Information Requests FAQ
Find answers to common questions about Information requests with Square.
Square may ask you to provide additional information to ensure that your account remains safe and secure.
It’s important to our buyers and our sellers alike that Square is a safe platform for processing payments. One of our best tools in keeping Square secure is to learn about your business, so we may request additional information to help us spot unusual activity, to keep you safe from fraudsters, reduce the risk of a chargeback and make sure that your business runs smoothly. The information you provide gives us a sense of how to help you adopt best practices.
We need documentation to confirm some details about your account and better understand how your business tends to process payments. This includes details about the goods or services you provide through Square and documentation of your transactions. Fill out each answer with as much detail are you can provide.
Note: When you apply for a new product or service (like loans) you will usually be asked to provide additional information.
When we need additional information about recent activity on your account, you will be notified directly by by email and text message and through your online Square Dashboard. When you see an alert in the app, tap on the link and follow the instructions to provide the information requested.
You can submit your responses directly through your online Square Dashboard. You can also access the electronic form from the Square Point of Sale, Square Invoices, and Square Appointments apps. The information you provide is securely stored in your Square account for any future reviews.
Thanks to the information you provide, Square will have resources to assess your business for potential risks, as well as spot suspicious activity on your account.
Our Document Request Guide offers detailed information about the business documentation we request. These documents fall into two categories:
- Transaction Information: These may include documents from the bank account linked to Square. If we need to verify specific transactions, you’ll see them listed.
- Legal: These include official documents required by your government to run your business.
To view your information requests go to Settings > Account & Settings > Information requests in your online Square Dashboard. Once you answer all the questions, the form is automatically considered “Complete & ready for review.” You’ll be able to come back to the Information requests tab and update your answers until we start reviewing them. You can also check the status of the requests here if you recently provided information, or applied for one of our services.
From the Square Point of Sale, Square Invoices, and Square Appointments apps, tap ≡ More > Settings > Information requests > Start. Fill out all of the questions, then submit the form for review.
Once you submit the required information, you will receive an email and a text message confirming that your documents have been submitted successfully. We will review your answers and documents within 1-2 business days. You can make changes to the information and update your submitted documents until we start reviewing them. If we need any additional information or clarification, we will notify you through your online Square dashboard, by email, and by text message.
You can continue accepting payments during the review process, but depending on the type of review, you may not be able to initiate or receive transfers to your linked account until the review is complete. Once we have the information we need, the review process will take 1 to 2 business days. You’ll receive an email and a text message when it’s complete.
If your transfers are suspended, we may have noticed some unusual activity on your Square account. Our system periodically reviews your transactions to keep your account safe from scams and fraud. We’ve found that some businesses sell products or services that are more prone to fraud or to receiving payment disputes from their customers. This may not necessarily be the reason your transfers are suspended, but our policy is to make sure your business is protected when our system notices something out of the ordinary.
If you don’t have the requested information, or you’re not sure the documentation we requested applies to your business, consult our Document Request Guide to learn more about which documents you need to provide.
Yes. Square is committed to keeping all of your information safe, secure and private. All of our web pages are secure and served via SSL/TLS. Square is also certified PCI compliant. For more information, read about Security features and Privacy Policy.
Reviewing financial information such as bank statements helps us better understand your business, including cash inflows and outflows and the ability to support any payment disputes should they arise. We want to make sure that your business is best protected should anything go wrong.
If you don’t want to provide the requested information right now, you can always issue a refund to your customer and find an alternative way to accept their payment outside of Square. If transfers were suspended when you received the request, you will need to complete the review process in order to receive transfers in the future.