Why Can't Square Support All Businesses?
About Square’s business restrictions
Square is designed to empower companies to thrive by giving businesses the tools they need to fully participate in the economy.
As Square grows and adds more kinds of businesses to the platform, it’s important that we make sure we’ve built the systems that keep Square safe for businesses that use our platform. There are certain types of businesses and products we’re not able to support on our platform due to the nature of the regulatory system in which we operate.
Before you begin
Ensure you’ve reviewed Square Terms of Service and Payment Terms. Details of what types of businesses and products cannot be supported are listed in the Terms of Service, and all activity on our platform is monitored to ensure compliance.
Unsupported industries
In order to operate, Square must abide by a number of different laws, policies, and agreements made to banks and other card networks. Many of these commitments are reflected in what is and isn’t supported in Square’s Terms of Service, and as referenced above, we have to take action when we come across any violations. Below are a few of the most common examples of what we can’t support.
Square must comply with state and federal law, so if there’s a product, service, transaction, or related activity that’s illegal, it won’t be allowed by Square. This includes items which might be related to illegal activities, like counterfeit goods or paraphernalia.
Certain age-restricted products, like cigarettes, require that a card be present for the transaction to be processed. As result, Square’s Terms state the products may only be sold with a card-present tap, insert, or swipe payment.
Selling certain age-restricted products over telephone, mail-order or the internet is a direct violation of Square’s Terms, and we have to take action as a result. So please make sure a card is present for these types of sales, and appropriately check the buyer’s ID.
Square’s integrated point of sale and payments solutions were designed for the sale of goods or services. They were not designed to process person-to-person transfers, to facilitate payments between companies owned by the same people, to facilitate payments within companies, or to be used as a cash advance-type service. Transactions of that nature violate many of the partnership agreements Square has with different providers in the financial services industry, and put our entire business at risk.
As a result, sellers cannot use their own card to process a transaction with their Square account. We do allow for the occasional test swipe for a reasonable $1 to ensure the reader is working as expected, but otherwise using Square for self-payments is not okay. Payments taken from family members can also fall into this category.
Understand why your business might be unsupported
Square regularly monitors all transactions on the platform to keep all businesses safe, and will take action on any account that violates the Terms of Service, regardless of when the infraction is identified. This helps ensure Square’s service remains available for as many businesses as possible.
In the event that something appears out of the ordinary with your account, Square will contact you to verify additional details, and will place a hold on any upcoming transfers. You’ll be notified via email, sent to the email address associated with the primary account holder, as well as by a banner that appears when the primary account holder is logged in to both Square Dashboard and Square's Support Centre. Depending on the concern, we may need to review different information, but typically we're looking for signed receipts, bank statements, or other forms of verification.
The information you submit helps Square Account Services better understand your business and its transactions as a whole. Regulators require Square to understand the kinds of businesses using Square, and the products being sold. When you respond to a request for more information, the information you provide helps us understand what you do and puts us in a better position to help you avoid prohibited activity.
As mentioned above, and in the Square Terms of Service, transfers can be suspended until we can fully verify an account or transaction to ensure it complies with the law and Square's Terms of Service. Our review process typically takes less than one business day, so the sooner you can get the requested verification documents, the sooner we'll be able to complete the review.