Clearpay In-Person Payments FAQ
Find answers to commonly asked questions on accepting in-person payments with Clearpay.
General
Buy now, pay later is a payment option where a customer pays for a purchase over time in instalments, while sellers get paid the full amount immediately. With Clearpay, customers pay in four interest-free instalments over six weeks.
Square sellers using Clearpay get paid the full amount at the time of purchase, minus a processing fee on the total order. Enabling Clearpay with Square is free — there are no monthly fees or startup costs. You only pay when you make a sale. There are no processing fees charged on the remaining instalments or if your customer makes a late payment.
For Clearpay and Square Online payments, processing rates are 6% + £0.30.
For payments processed via Clearpay in-person, processing rates are also 6% + £0.30.
Clearpay is a separate payment option working with Square, and this is the standard buy now, pay later rate that Clearpay charges merchants. In addition, Square and Clearpay assume buy now, pay later risk on behalf of the merchant together, including chargebacks and fraud.
- Increase Average Order Value: Customers who use Clearpay spend +40% more than those who do not.
- Increase Frequency: Customers who use Clearpay shop +50% more frequently than those who do not.
The buy now, pay later payment method from Clearpay is available to eligible Square sellers in the UK, US and Australia.
To see if you are eligible for Clearpay and to enable it for your business, log into your Square Dashboard and review your Payment methods. To find this, navigate to Account & Settings, then click Payment methods under Business information.
If you are listed as Ineligible, you cannot accept payments using Clearpay at this time.
Accepting payments with Clearpay first requires being activated for Square payments. Eligibility for Clearpay varies depending on your business type and the country you operate in. If you have multiple businesses within your Square account, it’s possible that some locations may be unable to accept Clearpay even if your overall business is eligible.
Eligibility for Clearpay is dependent on numerous factors, including how your business is structured and what you sell:
- Sellers must be in an approved merchant category
- Sellers must be based in the United Kingdom
- Sellers cannot have multiple Tax Identification Numbers (TINs) or business numbers
We are working to expand Clearpay availability over time to allow more sellers to accept Clearpay within their business. Review our Clearpay Merchant Terms for more information.
Setting up Clearpay is easy. Simply direct your customers here to set up their Clearpay account.
All remaining payments are handled entirely by Clearpay. If your customer is late or misses a payment, it doesn’t affect your business.
The integration is set up so Clearpay takes on the risk for you so you can focus on growing your business. You will receive the full payment upfront and at no risk to your business.
Clearpay takes on the risk for the sellers that use it, including chargebacks and fraud. If one of your customers disputes a payment, Clearpay will reach out to you for more information and any documentation on proof of delivery, and a dispute decision will be made.
If the customer wins the dispute, Clearpay covers any dispute losses entirely. At no point are funds held from your Square account.
Accept Payments
To enable or disable Clearpay for in-person transactions on Square POS app and Square Appointments app, you can enable/disable Clearpay directly from your app or online Square Dashboard.
If you’re using Square for Retail POS, Square for Restaurants POS or Virtual Terminal, you will need to visit Payment methods via a web browser to enable/disable Clearpay.
Square Dashboard
- Go to Account & Settings from your online Square Dashboard.
- Click Business information > Payment methods.
- Next to the Clearpay payment method, click ••• then Edit settings.
- Toggle the In-Person setting on/off.
Note: Once you’ve enabled Clearpay in-person, customers can pay via their Clearpay Card on Square POS, Appointments, Retail, Invoices and Restaurants.
Square App
If you’re using Square POS app or Square Appointments app:
- Log in to your Square app.
- Tap ≡ More > Settings > Checkout > Payment.
- Under All payment types, tap Configure Clearpay. You will be directed to your dashboard via a web browser.
- Toggle the In-person setting on/off.
If you’re using Square for Retail POS or Square for Restaurants POS, visit the Payment methods setting from your online Square Dashboard to enable/disable Clearpay.
Clearpay is an optional product that Square offers to sellers. If at any time you decide you do not want to offer Clearpay at checkout, you can turn it off at any time within your online Square Dashboard settings under Payment methods.
You can order a free marketing kit via Square Shop which includes stickers and a table tent that you can display at your point of sale. You can also download a free retailer kit from the Clearpay website.
Clearpay is an optional product that Square offers to sellers. If at any time you decide you do not want to offer Clearpay at checkout, you can turn it off at any time within your online Square Dashboard settings under Payment methods.
Yes, Clearpay can be used for in-person purchases of up to £1,000. Clearpay also makes an instant approval decision at the time of purchase based on the specific consumer and the order, which may result in a customer’s order being declined at the time of transaction. This will be communicated to customers within the Clearpay app.
Note: The ability to change the in-person acceptance limit is not yet available.
To process Clearpay in-person transactions, customers must Tap-To-Pay via Clearpay Card on their digital wallets such as Apple Pay, Google Pay, or Samsung Pay. You can accept Clearpay in person on any of our contactless-enabled points of sale:
Clearpay can be accepted on:
- Square Register
- Square Terminal
- Square Stand (2nd generation)
- Square Reader
Clearpay cannot be accepted via swiping through magstripe on Square Stand (1st generation).
Yes! Simply tap Split Amount at checkout prior to accepting payments. Learn how to process split tender payments with Square.
Transactions and Refunds
If your customer chooses to make a return, they will be refunded the appropriate amount.
Square Sellers should refund an Clearpay payment as they would any other payment with Square – via your transaction history via your Square app or online Square Dashboard. Any paid instalments will be returned to the customer by Clearpay and their future payments will be removed.
If issuing a partial refund, the refund amount will be first deducted from any outstanding instalments, starting with the last instalment to be paid. Then any amount over will be refunded directly to the customer’s payment method.
Please note, this may take several days to complete and a customer may not receive an immediate notification from Clearpay.
Your customer may have cancelled or closed your card in the time since the purchase was made. If this has occurred, your customer will need to contact your card issuer or bank to locate the returned funds and ensure that they are properly paid out to them.
If your financial institution requires details about the refund, including specific date, time and amount, your customer can get in touch with Clearpay to ask for your refund confirmation.
To understand in real time whether Clearpay was used as a payment method for in-person transactions, reference your printed receipt.
To understand which of your previous transactions have been made using Clearpay:
- Go to Reports from your online Square Dashboard.
- Go to Payment Methods to see the total payments, refunds, collected amount and fees for the Clearpay transactions. You can use the time filter to navigate to a specific day, week or month. And use other filters to get additional insights.
Customer Experience
Learn more about how Clearpay works on their website.
To check out using Clearpay, you will first need to load your Clearpay Card into your digital wallet—such as Apple Pay or Google Pay. When prompted, simply tap your mobile device on the Square seller’s hardware as you would any mobile wallet or contactless payment.
It’s easy to shop in-store with Clearpay.
- Simply download the Clearpay mobile app to set up Clearpay Card.
- Visit the Card tab and follow the prompts to add Clearpay Card to your digital wallet.
- When you’re ready to pay, tap to pay with Clearpay Card using Apple Pay, Google Pay or Samsung Pay.
For questions about a purchase made through Clearpay, contact Clearpay directly through their support centre. They’ll be able to assist you with your questions about your payment schedule, late fees, refunds and more.
Yes, make sure you have the latest version of the Clearpay app. You can download the free Clearpay app here.
To shop in-store with Clearpay Card, customers are required to:
- Download the free Clearpay App.
- Have an NFC compatible mobile device.
We understand there’s a small percentage of customers whose devices are not NFC compatible, meaning that you will no longer be able to shop in-store with CLearpay without changing your handset. NFC capability is now a widely supported handset feature on devices across a range of price points.
You can see where you can shop in the Clearpay app. Browse the Card tab to find Square sellers near you that accept Clearpay.
To resolve your enquiry, we recommend contacting the Square seller directly. If you opted in for a digital receipt, you can find the Square seller’s contact details via the SMS or email receipt.
To process a refund, you will need to return to the Square seller’s store or contact them directly to initiate the refund. Once the Square seller has processed your refund, the amount returned to you will come from Clearpay.
Questions regarding your refund, outside of requesting it, should be directed at Clearpay.
After making a return, it may take several days for the Square seller to accept the return and process a refund — especially if you’ve returned items via mail. Until the refund is confirmed and processed by the merchant, your original Payment Schedule with Clearpay will continue.
If you’ve made a return and would like to request that your next payment be pushed back by up to 2 weeks from the original due date in order for the Square seller to process your refund, you can do so easily in the Clearpay app. Just follow the steps below:
- From the Orders Details menu, select Returning an Order.
- Choose whether the return is for a purchase made in-store or online.
- Following the prompts, enter the order details as instructed.
- If your request is successful, the final confirmation screen will include your updated Payment Schedule.
Note: You’ll only be able to make this request once per order. Additionally, if your refund still hasn’t been processed by your next payment date and amounts remain due, you may have 2 payments due on the same day.
Using Square Online? Learn more about accepting payments with Clearpay on Square Online and Square Online Checkout.