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Accept Payments with the Square Reader for Contactless and Chip

Square Reader for contactless and chip connects to your device via Bluetooth LE, so it’s compatible with a wide range of devices – even ones that don’t have a headphone jack.

There are two generations of Square Reader for contactless and chip: Square Reader (1st generation) and Square Reader (2nd generation). Processing fees, supported card brands, device setup and payment acceptance are the same across the generations. Learn more about the differences and how to identify your Square Reader.

Accept EMV Chip Cards

Insert a Chip Card

Watch this video to learn how to accept chip cards with Square Reader for contactless and chip:

  1. Make sure your reader is connected to your device.

  2. Open the Square app, add items to your current sale, and then tap Charge. You can tap Charge before or after the chip card is inserted. Note: If you’re using a mobile device, or your tablet is being used in Portrait mode (vertically), tap Review Sale > Charge.

  3. Insert the chip card (chip-side first with the front of the card facing up) into the dip slot on the top of your reader.

  4. Leave the card in the reader until the reader beeps and shows 4 green lights, which means you can remove the card.

When you see four green lights on the reader, hear a beep, and see a confirmation message in the app, the payment has successfully completed and you can remove the chip card. If the customer wants a digital receipt, they can enter their phone number or email address on the confirmation screen.

Swipe a Chip Card

You can also complete a sale by swiping a chip card using the magstripe reader or Square Stand.

To swipe chip cards:

  1. Tap More from the navigation bar at the bottom of your screen > Settings > Checkout.

  2. Tap Swipe Chip Cards and toggle it on.

  3. Review the liability warning on the screen and agree to the terms to continue. Liability Warning: By swiping chip cards and choosing not to insert them into the EMV card slot of your Square Reader for contactless and chip, you understand that you’re liable for any possible EMV card fraud.

  4. Use the magstripe reader or connected Square Stand to swipe the chip card.

Note: You can toggle this feature off/on at any time.

Accept Contactless (NFC) Payments

You can accept the following contactless payment options: Apple Pay, Google Pay, and contactless cards. Follow these steps to accept contactless payments with both generations of the Square Reader for contactless and chip:

When you’re ready to ring up your customer:

  1. Make sure your reader is connected to your device.

  2. From the Square app, add items to your current sale, and then tap Charge to prepare the reader for the payment.

    1. If you’re using a mobile device, or your tablet is being used in portrait mode (vertically), tap Review Sale > Charge.

  3. When you see one green light on the reader, it’s ready to take your customer’s payment. Ask your customer to hold their device or card over the reader to complete the sale.

Note: If you don’t see a green light, tap “Re-enable Apple Pay and Contactless” from the app.

When you see four green lights, hear a beep and see a confirmation in the Square app, the payment has successfully completed. If the customer wants a digital receipt, they can enter their phone number or email address on the confirmation screen.

Accept Magstripe Cards

To accept magstripe-only cards, use a Square Reader for Magstripe. Insert the magstripe reader into the lightning connector or headphone jack of your iOS or Android device and swipe the card. Learn how to swipe card payments with the Square Reader for Magstripe in our Support Center.

To help teach your employees how to accept payments, download this quick guide.

Square’s standard processing fee applies to all card payment types – chip cards, contactless, and magstripe. You can read more about how processing fees and rates are calculated.

Accept Payments Offline

The Square app requires an internet connection at all times to function properly. This can be either a Wi-Fi connection or a data service on your mobile device (such as 4G, 5G or EDGE). If your internet connection becomes interrupted or temporarily unavailable, you can accept offline payments and upload them once you have an internet connection again. Square Reader for contactless and chip 1st generation (v3) and 2nd generation can accept dip and tap payments while your device is not connected to the internet. Square Reader for contactless and chip 1st generation (v1 and v2) cannot accept offline payments.

There are duration limitations associated with how long you can accept offline payments once you go offline and how long you have to upload offline payments once you regain internet connectivity. You’ll have up to 24 hours from when your device goes offline to accept and upload offline payments using Square Reader for contactless and chip 2nd generation and 1st generation v3. If you do not reconnect your device to the internet within 24 hours, you risk expiration of these payments and the funds will not be collected from your customer.

Offline payments must be enabled while connected to the internet, prior to going offline. 

To enable offline payments:

  1. From the navigation bar at the bottom of your screen, tap ≡ More.

  2. Tap Settings > Checkout > Offline payments.

  3. Toggle Allow Offline payments to on.

  4. Review the information and then tap Allow.

  5. To set a limit for card transactions taken offline, enter an amount next to Per Transaction Limit.

Disable offline payments by tapping ≡ More > Settings > Checkout > Offline payments > turn off.

Your current processing rate will be applied to offline payments, so you’ll see no difference in fees. 

Once offline payments are enabled, an offline session will automatically activate whenever your internet connectivity is unavailable. A notification banner at the top of your device will indicate it has automatically entered into an offline session accompanied by a countdown clock showing how much time you have left to accept offline payments. You’ll have 24 hours to accept dip, tap, and swipe transactions as offline payments.

You will receive an in-app notification when your offline session has expired or if it was interrupted. After you have regained internet connectivity and uploaded your offline payments, another offline session will activate if you lose connectivity again.

If you’ve recently accepted payments while offline and have not yet uploaded them, do not delete and reinstall the Square Point of Sale app(s) or factory reset your device. Doing so will delete any offline payments that have not yet been uploaded.

There is additional risk with any offline payments you accept. 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 an Offline payment be declined or expire. 

Learn more about offline payment specifics for offline session duration, Square hardware, connected hardware, and payment type.

Enable Card Network Sounds

To enable or disable the card network audio tone for the Square POS app at the completion of a successful transaction:

  1. Tap ≡ More

  2. Tap Settings > Checkout > Payment sounds.

  3. Toggle on or off Allow card network sounds.

If enabled, the tone will only be heard for dipped or tapped on applicable card network debit and credit cards.

For more information, review frequently asked questions about the Square Reader