System updates

We’re experiencing issues that may affect your Square services. We’ll continue to update our status page with more information.

Home>Taking Payments On A Mobile Device

Accept Payments with Square Stand

The Square Stand family includes the classic first generation and the reimagined second generation. Learn how to accept payments using both models below.

Not sure which Square Stand you have? Learn how to Identify Your Square Stand

Square Stand (2nd generation)

Once you’ve set up your Square Stand with your iPad, you’ll be able to insert a card or tap a contactless debit or credit card, or an Apple or Android Pay or Google Pay-enabled device to accept payments.

Create a sale using Square Stand:

  1. Sign in with the email address and password associated with your Square account.

  2. If you’ve created items, tap the item(s) you’d like to sell from your Item Library or Favourites Page, or scan the barcode of an item with a SKU saved to your Item Library. Your item will be added to the current sale on the right.

  3. To enter a custom sale amount, tap Keypad. You can also select a variable price item saved to your Item Library.

  4. Tap on the item in the right-hand panel to add a description, create modifications, change the quantity and apply tax. When you’re done, tap the “X” icon or Save.

To accept payments using the Square Stand:

  1. Tap Charge to check out, and swivel the Square Stand 180 degrees to face the customer.

  2. The customer-facing checkout screen will prompt the customer to pay on the right side of the Square Stand, by either inserting their card into the chip reader or tapping their contactless card or mobile device near the flashing contactless icon. 

  3. To view other payment options, including cash or manual card entry, tap All payment options in the upper-left corner prior to swivelling the Square Stand toward the customer. If you don’t regularly swivel your Square Stand to your customers, you can set this to be the default payment screen in Checkout settings.

Accept Offline Payments with Square Stand (2nd generation)

Square Stand (2nd generation) can accept offline payments if your Internet connection becomes temporarily unavailable. There are duration limitations associated with how long you can accept offline payments once you go offline and how long you have to upload offline payments once you regain Internet connectivity.

You’ll have up to one hour from when your Square Stand (2nd gen) goes offline to accept offline payments and up to 24 hoursfromwhen your device goes offline to reconnect to the Internet and upload those offline payments. Any offline payment that is not processed within 24 hours will expire and the funds will not be received from your customer.

Note: INTERAC debit cards do not work offline. Any offline payment attempted with an Interac debit card will automatically decline upon regaining connectivity. Afterpay transactions, Square gift cards, e-gift cards and manually entered cards will not work with offline payments.

Offline payments must be enabled while connected to the Internet, prior to going offline. 

To enable offline payments:

  1. From the navigation bar at the bottom of your screen, tap ≡ More.

  2. Tap Settings > Checkout > Offline payments.

  3. Toggle Allow Offline payments to on.

  4. Review the information and then tap Allow.

  5. To set a limit for card transactions taken offline, enter an amount next to Per Transaction Limit.


Disable offline payments by tapping ≡ More > Settings > Checkout > Offline payments > turn off.

Once offline payments are enabled, an offline session will automatically activate whenever your Internet connectivity is unavailable. A notification banner at the top of your device will indicate that it has automatically entered into an offline session accompanied by a countdown clock showing how much time you have left to accept offline payments. You will receive an in-app notification when your offline session has expired or if it was interrupted. After you have regained Internet connectivity and uploaded your offline payments, another offline session will activate if you lose connectivity again.

Offline payments will appear as pending from your in-app payment history while your device is offline. When you reconnect your device to the Internet, payments will show as completed and will be visible from your online Square Dashboard. Customers’ digital receipts and your payment notification emails will also be sent when the device is back online.

If you have pending offline payments:

  • Do not delete the Square app.

  • Do not sign out of the Square app or your Square account.

  • Do not factory reset the device that has taken offline payments.

Pending offline payments will be permanently lost and the funds won’t be captured if you log out of your Square account, delete the Square app or factory reset the device that has taken offline payments. Make sure you process these payments by reconnecting your device to the Internet within the 24-hour time limit.

There is additional risk with any offline payments you accept. Square is not responsible for any loss due to declined cards or expired payments taken while offline. In addition, Square cannot contact any customers on your behalf should an offline payment be declined or expire.

Refer to the Offline Payments section of the Payment Terms for terms and conditions that apply to this feature. Learn more about offline payment specifics for offline session duration, Square hardware, connected hardware and acceptable payment types.

Square Stand (1st generation)

Note: Square Reader (1st generation) and Dock for Square Reader pictured above are no longer available in Square Shop. The newly improved Square Reader (2nd generation) is available with compatible Bosstab Dock for Square Reader and can be connected to Square Stand (1st generation) via USB-A to USB-C cable.

Once you’ve set up your Square Stand with your iPad, you can swipe cards through the track in the front of the Stand and accept contactless and chip and PIN payments on the Square Reader. You can also accept contactless payments from Apple Pay or Google Pay-enabled devices.

Note: The newly improved Square Reader (2nd generation) is available with compatible Bosstab Dock for Square Reader and can be connected to Square Stand (1st generation) via USB-A to USB-C cable (sold separately).

Create a sale using Square Stand:

  1. Sign in with the email address and password associated with your Square account.

  2. If you’ve created items, tap the item(s) you’d like to sell from your Item Library or Favourites Page, or scan the barcode of an item with a SKU saved to your Item Library. Your item will be added to the current sale on the right.

  3. To enter a custom sale amount, tap Keypad. You can also select a variable price item saved to your Item Library.

  4. Tap on the item in the right-hand panel to add a description, create modifications, change the quantity and apply tax. When you’re done, tap the “X” icon or Save.

To accept payments using the Square Stand:

  1. Tap Charge to check out.

  2. Swipe your customer’s card through the track at the front of your Square Stand, tap/insert your customer’s card using the Square Reader or key in payment card information while your iPad is secured in the Stand. 

To complete checkout with the Square Stand:

  1. With tipping enabled, your customer will see the option to leave a tip on the signature screen.

  2. If you have signature collection enabled, have your customer sign with their finger. If you have the signature screen turned off for payments under $25, the signature screen will be skipped. If you’re processing a phone or internet order, write “Internet Order” or “Phone Auth” on the signature screen. 

  3. Input your customer’s preferred receipt delivery method. If your Square Stand is connected to a receipt or kitchen printer, you also can print a receipt and kitchen ticket.

  4. With sign and tip on printed receipts enabled, you can print a paper receipt for your customer to sign and choose to leave an additional tip. Once you’ve finished swiping a payment and the paper receipt is printed, the final screen reads “Receipt Printed.” 

  5. If you’ve chosen to print a receipt that requires a signature, you can settle these payments, including tip, from Square Point of Sale on the iPad within 36 hours. 

Accept Card Payments in Offline mode with Square Stand (1st generation only)

If you experience any connectivity issues, you can turn on Offline Mode to accept swipe payments without an Internet connection. Transactions you accept while in Offline mode will be processed if you regain Internet connectivity within 24 hours.

Note: Offline mode is not supported for Interac debit payments. Any offline transaction attempted with an Interac debit card will auto-decline upon regaining connectivity.

Payments processed offline will have the same standard rate

After processing payments offline, be sure to reconnect your mobile device to the Internet (either Wi-Fi or a data service plan such as 4G, 5G or EDGE) within 24 hours. Payments that haven’t been uploaded within 24 hours will expire, and the money will not be captured.

Accept Card Payments on Square Stand Without Connecting to a Power Outlet (1st generation only)

When Square Stand (1st generation) is not plugged in to a power outlet, it utilizes the iPad’s battery as a power source. In this mode, the Square Stand (1st generation) will allow you to swipe magnetic stripe cards and connect to the Square Reader via Bluetooth to accept insert or tap contactless debit or credit card payments.

Note: USB accessories are not supported in this mode.

Accept Square Gift Cards

There are multiple ways to accept Square Gift Cardswith Square Stand.

On Square Stand (2nd generation) you can:

  • During the checkout process, navigate to all payment options, select Gift Card and either manually enter the gift card details or press the camera icon to scan the gift card using your iPad’s front-facing camera (only available for newer gift cards).

On Square Stand (1st generation) you can:

  • Swipe the gift card through your Square Stand’s magnetic stripe reader.

  • During the checkout process, navigate to all payment options, select Gift Card and either manually enter the gift card details or press the camera icon to scan the gift card using your iPad’s front-facing camera (only available for newer gift cards).

Enable Checkout Passcode

If you are interested in using additional security features on your Square Stand (2nd generation), you can enable free Team Permissions. Team Permissions requires a passcode to take certain actions, such as cancelling a sale or changing the payment method displayed on the customer-facing screen.

This feature can be enabled directly on the Square Point of Sale app and Square Appointments app. Square for Retail will automatically apply the permissions that are set in your Square Point of Sale app. To apply this feature for Square for Retail, download the Square Point of Sale app and follow these steps:

  1. Sign in to your Square Dashboard and enable Team Permissions

  2. On Square Point of Sale or Square Appointments app: Tap More > Settings > Security > Passcodes.

  3. Toggle on Passcodes.

  4. Under Require passcode, toggle on any that apply: After each sale, To back out of a sale, To back out of customer-facing payment screen.

To enable for Square for Restaurants:

  1. Sign in to your Square Dashboard and enable Team Permissions

  2. Click Settings > Device Management > Points of Sale > POS devices

  3. Select Square Stand or Square Stand Mount.

  4. Scroll to Team Management, and enable Lock POS backing out of customer-facing payment screen under Passcode Options

  5. Click Save


Once enabled, a passcode will be required to change the payment method after you’ve begun a credit card transaction and are ready to swivel your Square Stand.

Enable Mastercard Audio Tone

To enable or disable the Mastercard audio tone for the Square POS app at the completion of a successful transaction with Mastercard:

  1. Tap More

  2. Tap Settings > Checkout > Payment sounds.

  3. Toggle on or off Allow card network sounds.

If enabled, the tone will only be heard for inserted or tapped Mastercard debit and credit cards.

Learn more about: Square Stand

Can't find what you need?