Use Your Square Gift Cards
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Before you’re ready to sell or accept gift cards, make sure you’ve downloaded the most recent version of the Square app on your mobile device.
Set Gift Card Default Amounts
By default, the Square Point of Sale app will display the amounts €10, €15, €20, €25 and €50 to be loaded onto a gift card. If you’d like to set your own default amounts and turn off the option to load custom amounts, follow these steps:
Visit Payments > Gift Cards in your online Square Dashboard.
Click the Settings tab.
Enter your preferred default amounts > click Save.
Toggle Allow Custom Gift Card Amounts to Off to disable this option in the Square app.
Sell Your Gift Cards
To load and issue a gift card:
From the Checkout screen, tap Library > Gift Cards.
Swipe or enter the gift card number.
Select a default preset load value or, if the option is enabled, enter a custom load amount.
If you swipe the gift card, the amount will automatically load. If you manually enter the gift card number, tap Load.
To add additional items to the sale, tap the arrow to return to your item library or tap the keypad icon.
Tap Charge to complete the sale. Note: If you’re using a mobile device, or your tablet is being used in Portrait mode (vertically), tap Review Sale > Charge.
Take a look at our video tutorial for more information on how to start selling your Square gift cards.
Important Tips for Loading and Selling Your Gift Cards
A gift card is activated once the sale is complete.
Only plastic gift cards ordered through can be loaded, sold or accepted from the Square Point of Sale app or Square Online.
Checking a gift card balance is the same process as loading a gift card.
You can allow customers to add gift cards to their Apple Wallet through the gift card settings from online Square Dashboard.
You can reload a gift card at any time – before or when the balance reaches €0. You can also clear a card’s balance and reuse it for another customer.
The maximum value for a single gift card is €750. You may not issue more than €750 in gift cards to any single person in any one day.
You can apply a discount to a gift card sale to issue promotional gift cards to your customers. Learn how to create discounts.
When refunding a gift card payment, be sure to also clear the balance of the physical gift card from the app. If the gift card is not present during the refund, you can locate the gift card’s transaction history from your online Square Dashboard to clear its balance. Clearing the balance will deactivate and void the gift card. You’re then able to reuse the card for a future customer, or recycle it if you’d no longer like to keep it.
Accept Your Gift Cards
To accept gift cards with the Square app:
Go to Checkout > add the items your customer wishes to purchase from your library or enter a customised amount
Tap Charge > swipe the gift card through your magnetic swipe reader or the front of Square Stand. Alternatively, if the customer has an eGift Card, tap Manual Gift Card Entry and enter the gift card information when your customer is ready to pay.
If there are insufficient funds on the gift card, you can use Split Tender to complete the sale or cancel the payment (by pressing the x in the top left-hand corner) and accept a different method of payment entirely.
Note: After a sale, any remaining gift card balance will display on the receipt screen and on your customer’s receipt.
Customers can also use your gift cards to place orders through your Square Online. During checkout, your customers will have the option to enter the gift card code (located on the back of the card). If the amount on the gift card doesn’t cover the total, your customer can pay the remainder with their credit or debit card.
Note: Gift Cards can be redeemed through Square Online and through third party eCommerce integrations that use Square as a payment processor. Keep in mind: if you are experiencing issues with accepting your customer’s gift card through a third-party integration (like GoDaddy), please contact their support team to troubleshoot further.
Note: You are able to use your customer’s gift card to pay their invoice if you have your customer’s gift card on file and the balance covers the invoice total.
Check a Gift Card Balance Online
You can create a link from your online Square Dashboard and add it to your website. From there, customers can scan the QR code found on the back of their card or manually enter their 16-digit gift card number and four-digit PIN.
Customers can also check their balance directly by scanning the QR code printed on the back of their gift card with their smartphone camera.
If a customer's gift card does not have a 4-digit PIN printed on the back, they can select My gift card does not have a PIN to continue checking their balance.
If a customer's gift card has a 4-digit PIN but the check balance feature does not work, they will receive a message to contact the Square seller to check their balance.
Customers can also check gift card balances and manage all of their gift cards from their Square profile.
View a Gift Card’s Transaction History
There are three ways to view the transaction history of a gift card:
Transactions Report
From your online Square Dashboard, click Reporting > Transactions.
Select any transaction completed with the gift card in question or you can search by the last 4 digits of the gift card.
Click the Gift Card link to view the payment history.
To view the receipts for each gift card transaction, click on the receipt link on the left side of the pop-up window.
Gift Cards Overview Report
From your online Square Dashboard, go to Gift Cards.
From the Overview page, search by gift card number. Click the gift card to view the details. Scroll down to view the gift card activity history.
To view the receipts, click the link in the Receipt column.
Gift Cards Summary Report
From your online Square Dashboard, go to Reports.
Select Gift Cards.
Use the date and location selector to view the Gift Cards Summary Report and Inter-Location Payables & Receivables.
Click Export to receive a downloadable report.
View Gift Card Transfer History
From your Square Dashboard, click Reporting > Transactions > Gift Cards.
Select any transaction completed with the gift card in question or you can search by the last four digits of the gift card.
Click the gift card and scroll down to view the transfer history.