Accept payments with Tap to Pay on Android
About Tap to Pay on Android
Accept contactless payments anywhere with just your Android device — no card reader needed. With Tap to Pay on Android, you can securely accept Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay, Afterpay, and payment cards with NFC (Near Field Communication) chips wherever you are. From your Square app, enter an amount to charge, and have your customer tap their device or card to complete the transaction.
Before you begin
Tap to Pay on Android is currently available with Square Point of Sale, Square Restaurant POS, Square Appointments POS, and Square Invoices. Check out device compatibility to view compatible devices.
Tap to Pay on Android has a per-transaction limit for contactless payments of $50,000. It also has a per-transaction limit for physical contactless cards of $100 for eftpos, and $250 for all other card brands. Payments over this limit for physical contactless cards may require verification with a PIN or signature, or decline and prompt for a different payment method.
If you use a phone case that holds physical cards, we recommend removing them from your phone case to prevent accidentally charging your own card while Tap to Pay on Android is enabled. You can also disable NFC in your Android device settings when you aren’t processing Tap to Pay payments.
Set up Tap to Pay on Android
You can enable Tap to Pay on Android at any time through your point of sale app.
- Sign in to your point of sale app and tap ≡ More > Settings > Hardware.
- Select Tap to Pay and toggle on Tap to Pay.
Once the account owner enables Tap to Pay, the banner at the top of the screen will read ✓ Tap to Pay and all team members under the same account with an eligible device will automatically be able to use Tap to Pay on Android.
To prepare your Android device to use Tap to Pay:
- Ensure your device is running Android 9 or higher.
- On your device, navigate to Settings > Connections > NFC and Contactless Payments, then toggle ON Use NFC.
- Ensure ‘Developer options’ are disabled in your device settings.
Note: These steps may vary depending on your specific Android device.
Accept payments with Tap to Pay on Android
For the best results when taking a Tap to Pay payment, the card or NFC device should be placed on the back of your Android device toward the centre.
From the Square POS app with full service, fast food service, bar, retail or bookings mode enabled or from the Square Restaurants POS app, Square Retail POS app or Square Appointments POS app:
- When your customer is ready to check out, tap Charge.
- Select Tap to Pay and hold the card or NFC device to the back of your Android device. You’ll hear an audible beep once the payment is accepted, signifying a successful transaction.
From the Square POS app with service mode enabled or from the Square Invoices POS app:
- When you’re ready to accept a payment for an invoice, go to Invoices and select an invoice.
- Tap Add payment to choose the amount to charge, then tap Next.
- Select Tap to Pay and hold the card or NFC device to the back of your Android device. You’ll hear an audible beep once the payment is accepted, signifying a successful transaction.
Security practices for Tap to Pay on Android
To ensure payments are processed securely:
Never hand your mobile device over to your customer. Have the customer hold out their card or NFC device, or hand it to you, to tap on your Android device.
As your customer is tapping their card or NFC device, watch for the screen to show the transaction as Approved. This will be accompanied by an audible beep and vibration to confirm that the payment has been accepted.
Review your Transactions to check if a Tap to Pay payment was successfully accepted. Tap to Pay transactions are registered as a Card payment and have the card type and last 4 digits of the card number displayed.
You can remove unused payment types by navigating to ≡ More > Settings > Checkout > Payment.
Enable passcodes on your device. This will require a passcode entry when backing out of the Tap to Pay on Android payment screen. Navigate to ≡ More > Settings > Security and turn the Passcodes toggle on. Then select the option to require the passcode To back out of a customer-facing payment screen.
Troubleshoot Tap to Pay on Android
If you see a "Reader Failed to Connect, Please check your network connection" or "Developer Options Not Supported" error message, your Android device may have developer options/mode enabled. You’ll need to disable this setting in order to use Tap to Pay on Android.
Go to your device Settings > System > Developer options/mode. You can also search “Developer options” or “Developer mode.”
Turn off Developer options or Developer mode.
Force quit the Square app.
Restart your Android device.