Offline Payments FAQ

Try the following troubleshooting steps:

• Confirm that you have uploaded your offline payments by checking your Transaction history on another device, or by logging into your online Square Dashboard.

• Forget the network you’re connected to on your device.

• Reconnect to the same network.

• Restart the app.

Note: 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.

You can accept offline card payments when your Internet service is temporarily unavailable. If you’ve enabled offline payments, it will take effect automatically when your device is not connected to the Internet and a banner will appear at the top of your Square app.

If your device is online and all your card transactions appear to be declining, there may be a wider issue affecting payments, which can be confirmed by checking for updates at issquareup.com.

In this instance, you can still take offline payments, however you will need to navigate to ≡ More > Settings > Hardware > Network and disable Wi-Fi (or unplug your Ethernet cable from your device, if applicable) to force your device offline.

Once the issue has been stabilized or resolved on issquareup.com, re-enable Wi-Fi (or reconnect your Ethernet cable to your device, if applicable) to allow your device access to the Internet and upload your offline transactions. You must reconnect to the Internet within 24 hours of losing Internet connectivity or taking your first offline payment, depending on what Square hardware (and connected hardware) you are using to ensure that your offline payments are processed. View the Time Limits section in the Offline Payments guide for full details, terms and conditions.

Note: If you do not force your device offline to accept offline payments by following the steps above, then any transactions you attempt to process will continue to decline and will not be retried once the issue has been stabilized or resolved.

Yes. In order for your team members to enable or disable offline payments, they will need to have the Configure Checkout Settings box checked in their Permissions setting. Team members without this permission granted can still process offline payments, but will be unable to enable or disable.

There is additional risk when accepting payments offline. Square is not responsible for any loss due to declined cards or expired payments taken while offline. In addition, Square can not contact any customers on your behalf should a payment be declined or expire when taken as an offline payment.
Please refer to the Offline Payments section of the Payment Terms for terms and conditions that apply to this feature and learn more about offline payments specifics for offline session duration, Square hardware, connected hardware and acceptable payment types.

Offline payments are available on the following Square apps:

• Square Point of Sale
• Square for Retail
• Square Appointments
• Square for Restaurants

Offline payments can be accepted on the following Square hardware:

• Square reader for magstripe*
• Square Reader (1st generation – v3)
• Square Reader (2nd generation)
• Square Stand (1st generation)** for swipe payments
• Square Stand (2nd generation)*** for chip and PIN payments
• Square Terminal for swipe, chip and PIN payments
• Square Register for swipe, chip and PIN payments

Note: *Square Reader for magstripe is no longer available for sale in Canada. Find out more about the Square Reader for magstripe end of life.

**Square Stand (1st generation) can support offline chip and PIN payments when combined with a compatible Square Reader (2nd generation, or 1st generation – v3).

***Square Stand (2nd generation) requires a Square Reader for magstripe to accept swipe payments offline.

With offline payments enabled, you can accept payments from the following card brands:

• Mastercard
• Visa
• American Express
• Discover
• JCB
• Apple Pay
• Google Pay

Note: Debit cards, including Interac cards, are currently not supported with offline payments. Any offline payments attempted with an Interac debit card will automatically decline upon regaining connectivity.

Chip and PIN, tap and swipe payment acceptance functionality using offline payments varies by device.

Learn more about processing card payments with offline payments in our Support Centre.

Offline payments can’t be cancelled or refunded while they are still processing. You can issue a refund once your Internet connection has been restored. To issue a refund:

1. Complete your pending payments by reconnecting to the Internet within 24 hours of the original transaction time. This will automatically upload your payments.
2. Once complete, you can issue a refund from the Transactions tab of your iOS or Android device, Square Stand, Square Terminal, Square Register or online Square Dashboard.