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Home>Square Loans FAQ

Square Loans Eligibility FAQ

In Quebec? Visit our Square Funding FAQ.

For eligible Square sellers, Square offers business loans to grow your business. You can check your business’s eligibility by going to the Loans tab of your Square Dashboard and keeping an eye on your email inbox.

If you don’t see an offer in your Square Dashboard, take a look at the key factors that may be affecting your eligibility below. Offer eligibility is based on a variety of factors related to your Square account, including payment processing volume, account history and payment frequency.

Note: Numbers are for illustrative purposes only.

How do I become eligible for a Square loan? 

Keep processing with Square – and consider the eligibility factors below as you process. Be sure to check out the Square Dashboard for more information about your current eligibility status.  There’s no need to contact us or request an eligibility review. The review is automatic, and we will let you know through your Square Dashboard and by email if you are eligible for an offer – saving you time so you can focus on your business. We are unable to manually generate or predict offers and all sellers must qualify based on eligibility criteria.

What are the key eligibility factors?

There are many factors that may affect your eligibility, and accounts are evaluated as a whole. Please be sure to check your Square Dashboard for more information about your current eligibility status.  Here are factors we consider when evaluating your business for an offer:

Square processing volume

In general, businesses that have processed at least $10,000 or more in a year are more likely to be eligible for an offer.

Square payment frequency

The frequency of card payments you process through Square matters. If you consistently take payments, you’re more likely to get noticed. To us, a steady pattern of taking payments shows that you have a healthy business.

Your customer mix

A good mix of new and returning customers shows us that you’re growing in different ways. You can use Square’s analytics tools to understand your customer base better.

A healthy, growing business

The size of your loan offer is generally shaped by how much you process through Square.

What are additional factors to look out for?

Besides the key factors listed above, there are some additional factors to look out for concerning loan eligibility:

Payment Dispute

A payment dispute happens when a customer disputes a charge from your business and contacts the card issuer to reverse it. Swiping chip credit cards is one way to increase your chargeback risk. Switch to a Square Reader or learn how to better monitor payment cards to prevent disputes. For more information on payment disputes, please check out our Payment Disputes Walkthrough.

Multiple Square accounts

If you have multiple Square accounts or locations with outstanding Square Loans, make sure that they are all processing consistently and are current with loan repayment.

Failed debit card transactions

Your Square account is reviewed for failed debit card transactions due to insufficient funds. Please be mindful of the available funds in your linked bank account to avoid failed debit card transactions.

Prior loan applications

Square Loans are subject to credit approval. Being declined recently for a loan may impact your eligibility.

Account reviews

To ensure the security of your account, Square periodically reviews Square accounts. If your account has been under review recently, it may affect your eligibility.

Reserves

To assist with payment disputes, Square may place a reserve on your account. Having a reserve on your Square account affects your loan eligibility. For more information on reserves, please visit our Reserves FAQ.

Payment limits

To protect your account, Square may place a payment limit on your account. Payment limits are restrictions that put a temporary cap on your ability to process transactions through your Square account. Having a payment limit on your account affects your loan eligibility. For more information on payment limits, please visit our Payment Limits FAQ.

When will I become eligible for another loan?

Square accounts – including accounts with an active loan – are regularly reviewed for eligibility. You don’t need to contact us or provide any additional information to become eligible for another loan offer. You can check your Square Dashboard at any time for more information about your current eligibility status.

Offers are not guaranteed and we are unable to predict when your business may receive another offer.  New offers are not automatically extended when a certain percentage of an existing loan is repaid, but your business may become eligible for a new offer when your existing plan is closer to being repaid. In general, sellers repay at least 3/4th of their loan before receiving another offer.  Loan offer details, as well as the timing of eligibility, may differ from your current Square loan.

Loan repayment progress

You may become eligible for a loan while repaying your current loan. However, making an extra payment or paying off your loan early does not guarantee another loan offer through Square. Your chances of becoming eligible may increase if an existing loan is close to being paid, but there’s no set amount you need to pay back to receive a new loan offer. Each offer is unique and evaluated separately.

Recent loan payment

If you had an existing offer, making a loan payment through the Square Dashboard will expire that offer. Once the payment is processed, it can take up to seven calendar days for your business to be re-evaluated for a loan.


All loans are issued by Square Canada, Inc. Actual fee depends upon payment card processing history, loan amount and other eligibility factors. A minimum payment of 1/18th of the initial loan balance is required every 60 days and full loan repayment is required within 18 months. Offer eligibility is not guaranteed. All loans are subject to approval. Not available in Quebec. Terms and conditions apply.

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