Square Messages Plus FAQ

A customer can contact you via text or email by replying to transactional messages including digital receipt, updates to their orders, appointments (eg: appointment reminders), invoices and estimates. Additionally, a customer can directly send a text or leave a voicemail to your dedicated business number.

Your Square Messages Plus plan (or 30-day free trial, if you are eligible) and the accompanying features begin when your phone number is successfully verified. Your access to Square Messages Plus features begins once your toll-free number is successfully verified.

We charge you on the first of every month until you cancel.

If your Square Messages Plus free trial ends after the first of the month, we charge your payment method on file a prorated amount for the rest of that month and $10 per location for each subsequent month.

If you sign up for Square Messages Plus after the first of the month and have already used your free trial period, we charge your payment method on file a prorated amount for the rest of that month and $10 per location for each subsequent month.

If your number verification fails and you are not eligible for resubmission, we will cancel your Square Messages Plus subscription and you will not be charged.

To remove locations from your Square Messages Plus subscription:

1. Go to Account & Settings in your Square Dashboard.
2. Click Business information > Pricing & Subscriptions.
3. Under Subscriptions, click Update Locations next to your Square Messages Plus plan.
4. Uncheck the box next the location(s) you want to remove from your Square Messages Plus plan.

Network carriers impose stringent restrictions for SMS messaging that apply to both the type of business and message traffic. These restrictions classify some businesses as ineligible for a toll-free phone number through Square Messages Plus.

Common examples of restricted businesses include those that:

• May be subject to SHAFT-C rules, which stands for Sex, Hate, Alcohol, Firearms, Tobacco, and Cannabis.
• Sell fireworks
• Provide high-risk financial services including, but not limited to, debt collection and forgiveness, credit repair, and gambling.
• Have marketing and sales business models that are considered high-risk and restricted by carriers, such as multi-level marketing.

For CBD and cannabis, these restrictions apply to any business selling or providing services that contain CBD or any type of cannabis. If your business is currently part of the Square CBD program, but no longer sells CBD items or provides CBD as part of your services, you need to exit the CBD program before trying to sign up for Square Messages Plus again.

If you have any questions about SHAFT-C rules or your eligibility for Square Messages Plus, please fill out this form and our team will get back to you. Alternatively, you can also contact Square Support.

Local Exceptions: In some locations, Square is required by law to support or consider supporting certain SHAFT-C categories. In these instances, the above limits won’t apply.

Toll-free number verification is a mandatory industry-wide process developed and managed by carriers. Only successfully verified toll-free numbers may send messages.

Note: The verification process may take up to seven business days, and in some cases longer, depending on your business.

To kick off your toll-free number verification and minimize any potential delays due to inaccurate information, we ask you to verify your business information when you sign up for Square Messages Plus.

You can contact Square Support if you want to cancel your Square Messages Plus subscription, or end your 30-day free trial, while your business number is still in the verification process — including if your toll-free number verification failed and you are in the process of resubmitting.

Your toll-free number may be rejected for a variety of reasons. Your verification could fail if the business information you provided, including but not limited to your business address or website URL (like a Yelp or Google Business profile), is invalid. You may need to correct this information and resubmit, which would restart the verification process. Make sure your information is accurate when you sign up for Square Messages Plus.

In some cases these verification failures don’t allow resubmission due to the nature of your business. Network carriers impose restrictions for SMS messaging that apply to both the type of business and message traffic. These restrictions may make a business ineligible for a toll-free phone number through Square Messages Plus.

Common examples of restricted businesses include those that:

• May be subject to SHAFT-C rules, which stands for Sex, Hate, Alcohol, Firearms, Tobacco, and Cannabis.
• Sell fireworks
• Provide high-risk financial services including, but not limited to, debt collection and forgiveness, credit repair, and gambling.
• Have marketing and sales business models that are considered high-risk and restricted by carriers, such as multi-level marketing.

Local Exceptions: In some locations, Square is required by law to support or consider supporting certain SHAFT-C categories. In these instances, the above limits won’t apply.

Your Square Messages Plus subscription will be canceled if your toll-free number verification fails and is not eligible for resubmission.

Once you verify and provide your updated information, the toll-free number verification process starts again. This process usually takes up to seven business days, but may take longer as a result of the resubmission process. To minimize verification delays, make sure your information is accurate when you sign up for Square Messages Plus.

We recognize the importance of using your new dedicated number for returning customer calls. Unfortunately, the ability to make calls via your new business number is currently not supported at this time.

However, as a way to facilitate quick call-backs to your customers, we have added a call back button for missed calls in the Square app on mobile devices. By using the call back button, you can call your customers back via your device’s native calling app using the phone number and phone plan associated with your device — not your Square Messages Plus number.