Square Checking Mobile Check Capture Terms of Service

Effective Date: October 27, 2021
Last updated: December 10, 2021

These Mobile Check Capture Terms of Service (the “Mobile Check Capture Terms”) govern your use of Mobile Check Capture which enables you to use Square Checking, offered through Block, Inc. (“Square,” “we,” “our,” or “us”) and certain hardware (such as a smartphone or other mobile device) approved by us to create electronic images of the front and back of certain eligible paper checks and to transmit those images and other information, including, without limitation, information captured from the magnetic ink character recognition (MICR) line for review, processing and loading deposits into your Square Checking account.

I. General Information

1. “Electronic Check” means the electronic image of, and electronic information derived from, a paper check, as well as any associated data (including information you provide us or that Square Checking collects in connection with the submission of the check image).

2. When you submit an Electronic Check, we may capture and retain various information from the mobile device, including time and geolocation data. To use Mobile Check Capture, you must have provided us with all hardware and operating permissions that it requests, including permission to access your device’s camera, files stored on your device, device time, and geolocation information.

3. After we receive your transmission, we will review each Electronic Check. We may decline to accept an Electronic Check in our sole discretion, even if the Electronic Check meets the eligibility standards and your Square Checking account is in good standing. You should not assume that any check will be accepted for Mobile Check Capture. If you will need to cash a check immediately, then you should have backup check cashing options for situations where Mobile Check Capture does not accept your check.

4. After we have accepted an Electronic Check from you, you must keep the original check in a secure location for two weeks. It is imperative that you do so, because we reserve the right to reverse our decision to accept an Electronic Check. If we do, we will notify you of our decision, and you may cash or deposit the check through another service or at a different institution. After two weeks, you must either destroy the original check or clearly and indelibly mark it as VOID, unless we have contacted you with other instructions.

5. You will not use Mobile Check Capture to (i) interfere with or disrupt the operation of Square Checking or Mobile Check Capture; nor (ii) conduct or engage in any illegal business or activity, infringe any third party Intellectual Property Rights using Mobile Check Capture or Square Checking.

II. Eligibility Requirements

You may use Mobile Check Capture to submit a paper check to us only if the paper check meets all of the requirements listed below. A paper check that meets all of these requirements is an “Eligible Check”:

1. The check is written to the order of you, or jointly to you and another person;

2. The check is in your possession and control;

3. The check is drawn on or payable by a bank, credit union, or other depository institution in the United States;

4. The check is payable in United States Dollars;

5. The check has been properly signed or similarly authenticated by the maker;

6. The amount of the check does not exceed the maximum check amount that Square has set for your use of Mobile Check Capture, and will not cause the total amount of checks you have submitted to via Mobile Check Capture to exceed any daily, weekly, monthly, or other limits on the dollar volume of checks that you may submit with Mobile Check Capture;

7. The check is dated, and the date of the check is in the past (i.e., the check is not postdated), but no more than 90 days earlier than the date that you submit it through Mobile Check Capture;

8. Neither the check nor any electronic image generated with the check has been cashed or deposited previously, by you or anyone else;

9. The check has not been altered in any way since it was issued (except for the indorsement required by these terms and conditions);

10. The check has been indorsed by you strictly in accordance with the instructions given to you by us when you create the Electronic Check, and had not been indorsed by you or anyone else before; and

11. The check has not been dishonored previously, nor are you aware of any reason to believe that the check will be dishonored (e.g., you have been told that the maker of the check does not have enough money in the account to cover the check).

III. Representation and Warranties

Each time that you submit an Electronic Check with Mobile Check Capture, you represent and warrant to us that all of the following are true:

1. The check that you are using to create the Electronic Check is an Eligible Check (i.e., it meets all of the eligibility criteria listed above) as of the time that you submit the Electronic Check with Mobile Check Capture;

2. Prior to submitting the Electronic Check, you visually inspected the check images to confirm that they accurately reflect the original paper check;

3. All of the information you submit to us in connection with the Electronic Check (such as the check amount that you input manually) is true, accurate, and complete;

4. The information in the Electronic Check is clear, legible, and accurate, including (but not limited to) all of the following information: (a) he MICR data on the bottom of the check front; (b) the check date; (c) the name of the person to whom the check is written (which must be you); (d) the check writer’s signature; and (e) your indorsement on the back of the check.

IV. What to Do After You Submit an Electronic Check

1. After you submit an Electronic Check with Mobile Check Capture, wait until the app confirms successful submission. Then, place the original paper check in a secure location. Keep the original check for two weeks, and then destroy it, unless we instruct you otherwise.

2. It is critical that we be able to contact you after you submit an Electronic Check with Mobile Check Capture. Before using the Mobile Check Capture, confirm that all your contact information in the Square dashboard is up to date. Be sure to check your email and text messages for the email address and phone number we will use to contact you.

V. Dishonored Electronic Checks

If any Electronic Check is dishonored or returned unpaid for any reason, then we may immediately (and without further notice to you) deduct any funds from the Electronic Check that we have credited to your Square Checking Balance. If we have already made funds from the Electronic Check available to you then this deduction may result in a negative Square Checking Balance. We may recover funds from you in accordance with our Payment Terms of Service to bring your negative balance to zero.

VI. Claims by Drawee Bank

Pursuant to applicable law and the rules of the check collection system, the drawee bank or a collecting bank might pursue a warranty claim or other claim against us related to the Electronic Check, even after the check was honored and paid in full. Common grounds for claims like this include:

1. The original check, or another electronic check created from the original check, was presented for payment, either before or after the drawee bank paid the Electronic Check;

2. The maker’s signature or any indorsement was forged, or the check was otherwise issued fraudulent and without the authorization of a person authorized to write checks on the account;

3. The check was altered after it was made; and

4. The information in the Electronic Check images did not match the information that you provided at the time that you submitted the Electronic Check, or it was not possible to verify that information because the information in the Electronic Check images was illegible.

These are just a few examples of the reasons that the drawee bank or a collecting bank may assert a claim with respect to the Electronic Check to recover amounts paid. If we (or one of our banks or other service providers) are subject to such a claim, then we may immediately recover funds from you in accordance with the Payment Terms of Service (and without notice to you).

VII. Funds Availability

A. Your Ability to Withdraw or Use Funds from an Electronic Check

Our policy is to delay the availability of funds from Electronic Checks that you Successfully Submit (as defined below) with Mobile Check Capture. During the delay, you may not use the funds for transactions, including transactions to: (a) make a payment to another third party (b) withdraw cash using your Square Debit Card; (c) make a purchase with your Square Debit Card; or (d) fund a transfer to your Eligible Bank Account or a third party bank account via ACH;

An Electronic Check is considered “Successfully Submitted” when you have received confirmation from us that the Electronic Check has been submitted and accepted by us.

B. When Funds From an Electronic Check Generally Will be Available

The length of the delay is counted in business days from the day that you Successfully Submit the Electronic Check. Every day is a business day except Saturdays, Sundays, and federal holidays. If you Successfully Submit an Electronic Check before 4:00 p.m. Pacific Time on a business day, we will consider the Electronic Check to have been Successfully Submitted on that day. However, if you Successfully Submit an Electronic Check after 4:00 pm Pacific Time or on a day that is not a business day, we will consider that the Electronic Check was Successfully Submitted on the next business day. Funds from a U.S. Treasury check will generally be available the first business day after you Successfully Submit the Electronic Check with Mobile Check Capture, unless such deposit is subject to a hold as otherwise provided in this agreement.

Checks other than U.S. Treasury checks are subject to a hold period between 1 and 15 business days.

C. Checks Returned or Subject to Refund Claim

In many cases, funds from an Electronic Check will be made available to you sooner than the Electronic Check can be collected from the paying bank. This means that an Electronic Check that you Successfully Submit with Mobile Check Capture could be returned unpaid after funds have been made available to you. If an Electronic Check is returned unpaid, we may immediately reverse the amount credited to your Square Checking Balance for the Electronic Check. If this results in a negative balance, then you will be required to repay us this negative balance immediately. We may recover funds from you in accordance with the Payment Terms of Service to bring your negative balance to zero.

If an Electronic Check is presented for payment more than once, the paying bank may recover funds paid on the Electronic Check. If this happens, we may deduct the amount of the Electronic Check from your Square Checking Balance immediately. If this results in a negative balance, you will be required to repay the negative balance immediately, and we may recover funds from you in accordance with the Payment Terms of Service to bring your negative balance to zero.

VIII. Third Party Rights

Mitek Systems, Inc. enables the image capture services for the Mobile Check Capture functionality.

SUCH CHECK CAPTURE SERVICE PROVIDER PROVIDES THE SERVICE “AS IS”, AND “WITH ALL FAULTS”, MAKES NO ADDITIONAL WARRANTIES EXPRESS OR IMPLIED RELATED TO THE SERVICES, AND EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND OR NATURE, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, ANY WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ACCURACY, TITLE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT OF THIRD PARTY RIGHTS.

THE CHECK CAPTURE SERVICE PROVIDER SHALL NOT BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY INDIRECT, PUNITIVE, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL OR OTHER INDIRECT DAMAGES UNDER ANY CAUSE OF ACTION ARISING OUT OF YOUR USE OF THE CHECK CAPTURE SERVICE.

You acknowledge and agree that Mitek Systems, Inc. has granted you a limited license to use the Mobile Check Capture technology as contemplated in the integration with Square Checking only. You further acknowledge and agree that you are prohibited from using, copying, distributing, duplicating, or otherwise reproducing all or any part of the Mobile Check Capture technology and any such unauthorized action shall be a material breach of this Agreement. Without limiting the foregoing, the licenses granted under this Agreement only permits you to use Mobile Check Capture as part of the Square Checking, and you may not license the the Mobile Check Capture technology on a standalone basis and may not license the Mobile Check Capture technology to any third party that will modify or integrate it independent of the Square Checking integration in any manner.

You acknowledge and agree that, except to the extent prohibited by law, we may share any information about you or any of your transactions using Mobile Check Capture with the service provider for any reason that we deem necessary, including (i) to review transactions for fraud or irregularities; (ii) to confirm that Mobile Check Capture is being used properly and in accordance with these terms and conditions; (iii) to help the service provider or us improve the Mobile Check Capture for you and other users of the service, including by using information about you and your transactions to enhance algorithms and systems for the detection of fraud or transaction monitoring.