Get Started with Team Member Badges

With Square Team Management, your team members can use physical badges to access your point of sale with their assigned permissions, complete transactions, and clock in and out for their shift. Using badges alongside a four-digit passcode adds an additional layer of security for both your business and your team.

Team member badges are available with a subscription to Team Plus, Square for Retail Plus, or Square for Restaurants Plus.

Note: Team Member Badges require software version 6.5 or greater on your point of sale device. In order to unpair and pair a new badge for an employee, you’ll need access to the Manage team members permission in the Permissions section of your online Square Dashboard.

Badge Pricing & Ordering

Team member badges are available with a subscription to Team Plus, Square for Retail Plus, or Square for Restaurants Plus. If you are using the free versions of these services and want to to use team member badges, you can upgrade your subscription from the Pricing & subscriptions section of your online Square Dashboard. If you’re using the paid versions of one of these services and downgrade to the free version, any active badges for your team will be deactivated.

Keep in mind that you can use the paid version of any one of these subscriptions and have access to badges functionality for your team.

If you’re ready to get your team set up with badges, visit our vendor partner to place your order and get started.

Enable Badges for Your Team

Once you have your badges, you’ll need to set up your team members with badge access at your point of sale. Supported point of sale devices for activating and using badges include Square Stand, Square Register, and the Square Reader for contactless and chip. Team member badges are not compatible Square Terminal at this time.

Note: Each team member can only have one active badge paired to their profile at a time. Team members can still use a four-digit passcode to log in and clock in and out if a badge is paired with their profile.

Pairing Badges with Your Team

To pair a badge with a team member:

1. From your supported Square hardware, tap More > Team. 

2. Select the name of the team member If you need to create a new employee, select the plus (+) symbol and fill out your employee’s profile information. 

3. Within the Security section of their profile, toggle on Team member badge. 

4. Follow the on-screen prompts to pair your badge, which will require tapping the badge on your device twice. Once the badge is activated, you will see an activation confirmation message on your screen and you can close the window.

5. Tap Save and deliver the badge to your employee. Repeat these steps for any other team members you wish to provide an active badge.

Note: To pair a badge via the Square POS app, you must have a Square Reader connected wirelessly to your device. Learn more about pairing your reader to your device.

Log In & Clock In with a Badge

Once badges are activated for your team, team members can use their badge to log in to your point of sale device, clock in and out, and track their hours if using Square Shifts. Keep in mind that a subscription to Square Shifts will not enable badges to work; Team Plus, Square for Retail Plus, or Square for Restaurants Plus are required to activate and use badges.

To log in, team members can tap the activated badge on your point of sale device when presented with a passcode screen. Team members should see a confirmation that they are logged in and, if applicable, can also tap Clock in on the screen to start their shift.

Note: Team member badges cannot be used to access the Square Team App on mobile devices at this time.

Remove Team Member Badges 

If your team member loses their badge, you can unpair the lost badge and pair a new badge or revert their access back to just a four-digit passcode. In order to unpair and pair a new badge for an employee, you’ll need access to the Manage team members permission in the Permissions section of your online Square Dashboard.

You can deactivate badges on Square Stand, Square Register, and the Square Point of Sale app by selecting More > Team on your device and selecting the employee’s profile. Deactivating their team member badge within the Security section of their profile will not prevent them from logging in or clocking in and out using their four-digit passcode if they are still active on your account.

You can also deactivate a badge from your online Square Dashboard. To do so:  

1. Log in to your online Square Dashboard and select Team.

2. Select the name of a team member whose badge you wish to deactivate. You should see an active badge for the employee within the Permissions section of their profile. 

3. Next to Team member badge, select Remove. 

4. On the notification, select Remove team badge. 

5. The passcode that was previously assigned to this employee is now the only method they can use to log in and clock in at the point of sale moving forward.

For employees that leave your business, deactivating their profile will automatically deactivate their paired badge and revoke access to your point of sale. Deactivated employees are also not able to use a four-digit passcode to log in or clock in and out. You can read more about deactivating employees in our Support Center.

Badge Troubleshooting

If a team member receives an error message when tapping their badge on a point of sale device, troubleshooting the following issues should help:

• The badge may need to be paired with the team member profile. You can follow the steps outlined above to pair and activate a badge for an employee.

• The team member may already have a badge paired. Employees can only have one badge paired to their profile at a time. Follow the steps in this article above to unpair and relink a new badge to the team member’s profile.

• If attempting to log in through a Square Reader, the device may not be connected to your point of sale hardware. You can read more about pairing your reader to your device in our Support Center.

• You are not subscribed to Team Plus, Square for Retail Plus, or Square for Restaurants Plus, or your subscription has expired. Team member badges will not work on your account unless this subscription is active on your Square account. You can resubscribe or upgrade your subscription from the Pricing & subscriptions section of your online Square Dashboard.