How Much Does Square Charge Per Credit Card Transaction

Can I Process A Refund

Yes. Refunds processed through Square on a mobile device must be requested and completed within 120 days of the original transaction. Payments refunded via your online Square Dashboard can be refunded within one year of the original transaction date. Once this window has passed, you must issue refunds outside of Square.

Learn how to process refunds.

What Is Square And How Does It Work

Standard card payments are complex. The typical chain goes something like this:

Square is a third-party payments processor. Its also called an aggregator. This means they do not process payments themselves. They appear at step #3 of the list above, and collect the credit card information from all their merchants. They then send them via one route only.

The key takeaway? In theory, Squares strength in numbers approach can help reduce payment processing fees, by bundling bank charges and credit card charges into their own fees.

While this is good for having a clear fee structure, it also means fraudulent payments take longer to investigate. This is why funds are sometimes held up for a while, and sadly their customer service isnt always there to help clarify what is happening.

Merchant Account Fee Downgrade

One of the major factors that determine the fee amount you are charged is whether the credit card was swiped or keyed in. Transactions processed through a swipe have less risk associated with them than those keyed-in. As a result, the fees are lower on a swiped transaction. This is called a downgrade.

A downgrade can occur when a transaction does not qualify because:

• The transaction was keyed in instead of swiped
• The transaction was not submitted for clearing within 1 or 2 days
• The type of card used for the purchase
• The type of card that your customer uses is also a factor. More exclusive credit cards with robust rewards or business cards will have higher fees associated with them.

Additionally, if yourbusiness is considered to be high risk for any reason, your credit card transaction rates could increase. This can happen for a number of reasons but typically goes back to the processor who deems your business to be risky.

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Does Square Provide Custom Rates

Yes. Square offers custom rates for businesses that have both an average ticket size over $15 and process more than $250,000 in card payments. These arent really negotiable rates , but they offer one way for larger businesses to take advantage of Squares technology and services while lessening the impact of Squares otherwise high credit card processing fees.

Terminology To Get You Talking About Credit Card Processing Fees

Here is some common terminology that you should have a grasp of before moving forward:

• A flat fee is a static cost that doesnt change with the cost of the purchase. Commonly for recouping computer network costs that include the hardware, software, and network connection.
• A percentage is a cost that varies depending on the cost of the purchase. This is often for the financing risk.
• A processing charge = flat fee + percentage.

At a high-level, the credit card processing fees encompassmerchant account fees, administrative fees, and incidental fees. Each has its own unique place within the payment processing cycle.

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The Complete Guide To Square Costs For Payment Processing & Software

Figuring out all of Squares rates and fees can be a bit overwhelming. Our complete guide breaks down Square’s costs for credit card processing and other services.

• Chris MotolaAn expert in personal and business loans and financial health, Chris Motola has been writing about small business finance and payments for over 5 years. He has been cited in various industry publications, including Forbes Advisor, GoBankingRates, and Medium. Chris is a graduate of the University of Central Florida.

  Expert Analyst & Reviewer

Can I Leave The Cbd Program

If you no longer wish to sell CBD products you may exit the program by visiting the Pricing & Subscriptions section of your online Square Dashboard, and then click Exit CBD Program under the Optional Programs section. By exiting, you attest that youve removed all CBD products from your inventory and online presence. You also acknowledge that your account will be subject to deactivation if you continue to sell CBD products outside of our program.

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Whats The Cheapest Way For Small Businesses To Accept Credit Card Payments

Which payment processor is the best deal for your company depends on the kind of business you run and how your customers pay.

Payment processing companies use various structures to charge you for the servicetransaction and subscription fees, flat-rate or variable feesdepending on the credit card network.

Top payment processors include:

What Fees Are Included With Square

Lets start with the good news. When you use Square, you will not have to pay for:

• Their app
• Setting up and signing up
• Square Magstripe reader
• Monthly fees
• Gateway setup
• Monthly gateway fees
• Annual fees
• Minimum monthly processing fees
• PCI compliance for security
• Account close or early termination fees
• Bank charges
• Dispute management

Its also worth noting once more that Square charges the same fee for every credit card type, whether its Visa, Mastercard, American Express, etc.

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What Are The Different Pricing Models For Processing Fees

We noted how credit card processing fees can fall within a specific range for each of the major credit card networks, but part of the fluctuation can be attributed to the pricing model chosen for credit card processing fees. Merchants may have the option to accept a pricing model that suits their needs best, so its important to know how each pricing model works:

• Tiered pricing: This type of pricing model comes with different pricing for transactions in different tiers or buckets. For example, certain qualified transactions may be charged a lower rate, whereas others require a higher percentage in fees. This type of pricing typically works best for merchants who process most of their transactions in the lowest tier.
• Flat rate pricing: Flat rate pricing works exactly as it sounds. With this pricing model, the credit card processor will charge the merchant a fixed percentage of each transaction plus a small per-transaction fee . This pricing model makes it easy for merchants to anticipate their credit card processing costs over time.
• Interchange Plus pricing: Merchants who are offered the Interchange Plus pricing model will pay the interchange rate for each transaction plus predetermined add-on fees. With Interchange Plus pricing, you may pay the interchange rate plus an additional percentage or a small fee per transaction.

Merchant : The Small Online Store Owner

Merchant 1 runs a modest online store called ToiletMemes.com. It sells jokey t-shirts, hats, and socks.

• They use PayPal Checkout to offer PayPal payment buttons as a supplementary payment method for customers who have PayPal accounts.
• They use no add-ons or paid features.
• Processing $800 in monthly PayPal transactions at the 3.49% + $0.49 rate with an average ticket of $14, theyre paying a little less than 98 cents per transaction.
• This comes out to about $55.92/month.

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How Much Does Squares Flat Rate Charge Versus Interchange Plus Pricing

Made popular by Square, the Flat Rate pricing method allows you to pay a set rate no matter the cost of the card. This means that the rate will be set to always cover the costs on even the most expensive cards. Some processors will charge a tiered pricing structured, which means that certain cards get grouped into certain buckets. The merchant processor determines what rate to charge all cards in each bucket and you could end up paying much more than you should. Some of these processors will try to convince you that they have the lowest rates by quoting you one of their lowest-rate buckets when in reality youre not getting the full picture when it comes to overall costs.

It is important to understand the interchange rate, or the actual cost of the card, is what the card brands charge for utilizing their credit cards.The average interchange rate is ~1.81%.

The best merchant processors remain simple, honest, and transparent. They usually charge interchange-plus prices, which means theyre charging you the true cost of the card, plus a small service fee. It lets merchants pay on a per-card basis, which saves everyone more money.

Feel free to reference our pricing pages calculator to show how much Payline interchange plus plans would charge in comparison.

Stax: The Way Payment Processing Should Be

While Square claims other Bank and Payment Processors are unable to include similar offerings, this couldnt be further from the truth.

Ranked as one of the best merchant services companies nationally, Stax is a subscription-based merchant service provider with total transparency built into its model. Businesses have access to direct cost payment processing with 0% markups, no contracts, and no hidden fees.

Stax treats members like family. Whenever you call in with a question, issue, or just to chat a real person answers the phone every time. This is the benefit of working with a more customer-centric company. Someone is ready to help answer the phone every time so you can rest easy knowing that your business is getting the white-glove customer service you deserve.

Heres a quick summary of Stax:

• No contract
• Flat monthly subscription
• Next day funding for approved businesses
• POS, eCommerce, mobile, and virtual terminal solutions
• Can integrate with most already established POS systems

Each business is unique, and it pays to understand exactly what will work best for you as you explore your options. Stax provides easy-to-use yet highly effective payment solutions to businesses of all sizes.

Whether you need a credit card reader or a magstripe reader or want to ensure that you can deal with several credit card companies, remember that Stax is here for you.

To learn more about how the Stax all-in-one platform can help grow your business, .

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The Journey Of The Swipe

You go to the store you pull out your credit or debit card and swipe it or put the chip in the machineat that time the merchant is charged an interchange or swipe fee. The average fee for transactions in which a physical card is used is 1.95% to 2.0% for Visa, MasterCard, and Discover cards.

For transactions that dont involve a physical card, such as online purchases, the rates rise to between about 2.3% to 2.5%. Rates for American Express are not publicly stated but are generally thought to be higher.

This fee may seem a little high, but the banks and payment processing companies, such as Visa and MasterCard, argue that when you swipe or chip your card, the merchant is paid right away, but it will most likely be a minimum of 30 daysand possibly longerbefore the credit card companies receive your payment. You may argue that the interest you incur as a result of holding a balance pays for that expense. However, according to the companies, interest alone doesnt cover the costs.

What Can I Say Or Not Say About My Cbd Products

While we cant provide legal advice, or a list of allowed or unallowed terms or phrases, we built our review process on FDA and other relevant guidelines. For example, we dont allow any claims that your CBD products may be used to cure, treat, or aid conditions such as anxiety, inflammation, depression, PTSD, ADHD, cancer, or other health conditions. For more information, we encourage you to review the FDA website and warning letters that that the FDA has sent to CBD businesses regarding claims made about their products.

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Is There An Incentive For Customers To Pay With Cash App

Through your online Square Dashboard, you can send a free promotional email campaign offering a 10% discount to your buyers if they pay using Cash App Pay at your business.

The 10% discount gives buyers up to $10 off per day on purchases of more than $1 and is valid December 1-31, 2021. The reward helps customers save while they shop. The reward is fully covered by Cash App and is automatically applied to the transaction after the customer scans the QR code, so it comes at no additional cost to your business or to customers. This promotion is offered as is. Cash App does not guarantee that your business will receive any additional revenue from this promotion.

To send a free Cash App Pay email campaign:

How We Make Money

The offers that appear on this site are from companies that compensate us. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site, including, for example, the order in which they may appear within the listing categories. But this compensation does not influence the information we publish, or the reviews that you see on this site. We do not include the universe of companies or financial offers that may be available to you.

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What Are Swipe Fees

Nothing is free. Those rewards points you get on your debit card and credit card, the convenience of not having to carry loads of cash, purchase protections, and the many other perks that come with using a card are far from free. Sure, you may pay for some of them through an annual fee or interest payments, but a large portion of them are financed by the merchant.

How, you ask? In the form of interchange feesalso known as swipe fees by politicians per a 2010 bill passed by congress to regulate such fees. And though merchants pay them, they ultimately pass them on to you in the form of higher prices.

• Swipe fees, also known as interchange fees, are what merchants are charged each time a customer uses a debit or credit card.
• Fees average around 2% for in-person swipes or chip use, while online rates can be up to 2.5%.

What Are Your Fees

Squares standard processing fee is 2.6% + 10¢ for contactless payments, swiped or inserted chip cards, and swiped magstripe cards. Payments that are manually keyed-in, processed using Card on File, or manually entered using Virtual Terminal have a 3.5% + 15¢ fee. Invoices cost 2.9% + 30¢ or 3.5% + 15¢ if processed using Card on File.

If you are processing payments for CBD transactions as a part of the SquaresCBD Program, different fees will apply. You can view processing fees for CBD transactions in the CBD Program FAQ.

If you purchased your Square Register before August 20th, 2019, your contactless payments, swiped or inserted chip cards, and swiped magstripe cards processed through Square Register have a 2.5% + 10¢ fee.

There are no fees for recording cash, check, or gift certificate payments.

There are no monthly or hidden fees for credit card processing. All fees are deducted before funds are transferred to your linked bank account.

Learn more about how processing fees and rates are calculated.

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Whats My Guarantee That I Can Continue To Process Cbd Sales On Square Can I Get It In Writing

Square aims to maintain healthful and long term relationships with all merchants, including our CBD merchants. However, we cannot guarantee any given merchants ability to use Square. Our ability to continue offering our services is dependent on our relationships with our bank partners and applicable laws.

We recommend merchants familiarize themselves with Squares Payment Terms to ensure they are not selling prohibited products and services, and promptly and fully respond to any requests for information sent by Square.

Use A Mobile Payment Processor

If youre a very small or brand-new business, start with a mobile payment processor like Square. These services charge a flat rate and use minimal equipment, so youre not saddled with a contract, monthly fee or setup costs.

You can typically use a mobile payment processor with a free swipe attachment for your smartphone or tablet, and a free app. And apps like Square can grow with your business, so you can always upgrade to add more equipment or capabilities later.

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What Will My Fees Be

Our CBD Program fees are slightly different than our traditional processing fees. All payments processed while participating in the CBD Program, including non-CBD items, will have the following costs:

Note: If CBD is only a small portion of your overall sales, you may qualify for a custom rate. To understand how adding CBD products to your business may impact your pricing with Square, please request a quote and then we’ll send you a follow-up email.