Square Fees: A Look at Pricing Across the Product Suite

Square Credit-Card Processing Fees

Before we delve into the specifics, you’ll be pleased to hear you won’t be stung with hidden fees. Square processing fees include:

• Activation
• Early termination
• Chargebacks
• Cash payments
• Refunds
• Inactivity
• Payment card industry (PCI) compliance

Square In-Person Transaction Fees

To process in-person transactions, you’ll have to download Square’s point-of-sale app, which is free. Keep in mind, you’ll have to pay 2.6% plus 10 cents for every dipped, tapped and swiped card payment you make.

Square Card-Not-Present Transaction Fees

If the customer’s card isn’t present for the transaction, you as the merchant incur a higher fee as there are greater risks associated with manually entered transactions. As such, you’re charged 3.5% plus 15 cents for every payment you take using:

• Keyed-in cards
• A card on file
• Invoices
• A virtual terminal

Square Point-of-Sale Package Fees

The payment-processing provider offers its customers a variety of point-of-sale packages tailored to suit the needs of specific industries.

Square for Restaurants

Square’s POS for restaurants boasts tons of handy features, including:

• A restaurant floor plan you can fully customize. This works wonders for tracking covers and identifying when a table’s about to finish up.
• You can keep your chefs and servers in sync. If a customer changes their mind after they’ve ordered, never fear. Tap and drag items between courses as often as you need so the kitchen’s kept fully updated.
• Customize your menus with a few simple taps.
• Access easy-to-understand reports.
• Track the sales rates of individual servers.
• Manage several restaurants from one account.
• Access a suite of security tools, including 24/7 fraud prevention, dispute management help and PCI compliance.
• Free catering contract templates
• Around-the-clock customer support
• Square payment processing for chip cards, contactless payments and magstripe cards.
• Receive funds instantly for an additional 1% fee per transaction

How much will this set you back? After your 30-day free trial, you’ll pay 2.6% plus 10¢ per tap, dip or swipe as well as $60 a month (per location). You can add additional points of sale for an additional $40 per month. Alternatively, you’ll have the option of enrolling in the premium plan starting at $299 a month (per location).

Square for Retail

This POS package aims to help retailers manage their storefront, back office and online store from one platform. With Square for Retail, you can:

• Create a professional-looking e-commerce store that syncs with your in-person shop. Easily manage online orders, ship to customers and provide an option for in-store pickup.
• Manage your inventory. View stock levels and send purchase orders from your dashboard when you’re low on stock. For faster checkout, you can also create, print and use barcode labels.
• Access reports in real-time. With these reports comparing sales and labor costs is a breeze, as is forecasting your future revenue and calculating the value of your inventory.
• Pay one flat Square rate to process major credit cards, Google Pay and Apple Pay.
• Handle customer support
• Process customer returns and exchanges
• Create customer profiles

After your 30-day free trial, this will cost you $60 a month (per location) and 2.5% plus 10¢ per swipe, dip or tap. If your business needs to scale even further, you can consider the premium plan for $299 per month (per location).

Square for E-Commerce

Create an online store without paying a penny. With your e-commerce site, you can manage your:

• Order fulfillment tasks
• Product listings
• Shipping
• Sales tax

Alternatively, you can integrate Square with the e-commerce solution you’re already using (Wix, GoDaddy, WooCommerce, etc.). So, you can continue running your online store with whatever software you’re comfortable with while enjoying all the benefits of Square.

You also have the option of using Square’s APIs to securely process online payments, all of which are Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) compliant. Plus, you can further simplify the checkout process by allowing customers to keep their card details on file or pay with a digital wallet.

As we’ve already said, there’s no monthly fee. However, Square automatically deducts a transaction fee of 2.9% plus 30¢ for every sale you make. If you decide to upgrade to a paid plan, you’ll have the same Square transaction fee deducted plus either a $12 monthly fee or a $26 monthly fee, depending on the plan you choose.

Alternatively, if you opt for Square’s premium plan, not only do you get additional features but you’ll benefit from a lower transaction rate: 2.6% plus 30¢. The monthly fee for their premium plan is $72.

Square for Appointments

If you’re running a business that hinges on scheduling and managing client appointments, this might just be the POS solution for you. With this bundle, you’ll get:

• A free customer booking website. Your services will become instantly bookable via your booking website or booking links.
• Integrated payments. You can collect payments in-person (even when you’re offline), ask for prepayment when customers book or send a professional invoice.
• Access to automated text and email reminders.
• Charge cancellation fees to reduce the likelihood of no-shows.
• Accept or decline appointments while you’re on the go and block out time where you’re unavailable.
• Keep track and manage staff across a variety of locations from the convenience of one account and grant specific team members access to different areas of your account.
• Accept a variety of payment types, including over the phone transactions by keying in the customer’s payment details.
• Receive funds by the next business day.
• Clients can add and manage cards through their customer account.
• If you’re selling products as well as services, you can also track inventory in real-time and receive email alerts when stock runs low.
• Access advanced reports in real-time. This includes sales by item, tender type, discounts, etc. You can even compare transactions by the hour, week and year.
• Provide customer receipts via email, text, or traditional print. With digital receipts, you can even request customer feedback.
• Employees can view their schedules from their own devices as well as appointment confirmations. You can also view your employees’ timetables to delegate your work better.

As with the other POS packages, you’ll enjoy a 30-day free trial. Package pricing varies based on the size of your team.

Square Fees for Solopreneurs

If you’re a solopreneur (an entrepreneur who works alone, you don’t have any staff), there are no monthly square fees. However, you’ll pay a 2.6% transaction fee plus 10 cents for every tap, dip or swipe.

Small Teams (Up to 5 Access Points)

Alternatively, if there are between 2 and 5 people who need access to your POS system, you’ll be charged a lesser rate: 2.5% plus 10¢ per tap, dip or swipe. That’s in addition to $50 a month.

Midsize Teams (Up to 10 Access Points)

If you have between 6 and 10 employees, you’ll be charged $90 a month and 2.5% plus 10¢ for every tap, dip or swipe.

Square Hardware Fees

Square Card Reader Fees

Square’s chip and contactless card reader costs $49 upfront with no monthly fees or you can finance the cost over 3 months for $17 a month. This reader allows you to accept dipped EMV chip cards, contactless payments, Apple Pay and Google Pay for 2.6% plus 10 cents per transaction.

Just connect your card reader to your Apple or Android device via Bluetooth and open Square’s point-of-sale app to get going. You should be able to use this reader all day long as the battery is pretty powerful — just remember to charge it up at night!

According to Square’s website, this reader is one of the fastest in the industry when it comes to processing contactless payments. Rest assured you’ll keep your checkout lines moving quickly.

Square Terminal Fees

The Square Terminal is best described as a one-stop-shop card machine for payments and receipts. You can accept Apple Pay, Google Pay and other NFC payments, as well as chip card and magstripe payments.

You’re not locked into any lengthy contracts. Plus, you’ll get all the benefits of Square’s data security and help with payment dispute management.

The Square Terminal is incredibly intuitive. So, you and your team should be up and running in next to no time.

The Square Terminal is priced at $299 or you can finance it for $27 a month over 12 months. In addition, you’ll pay one flat rate for every tap, dip or swipe — 2.6% plus 10¢ transaction.

Square Invoice Fees

You can create professional-looking invoices and quotes within minutes. There’s no setup or monthly Square fees, and you don’t have to enter into any contracts. Best of all, you don’t have to pay to send an invoice. You’ll only incur a payment of 2.9% plus 30¢ for every invoice that’s paid online. But, when customers authorize Square to keep their card on file, you’ll pay a higher 3.5% plus 15¢ per saved card payment.

Who’s Square Right For?

As POS solutions come, Square offers one of the most easy-to-use and cost-effective systems on the market. If you’re a smaller retailer or service provider taking in-person payments, you shouldn’t go too far wrong with this app. Plus, you’ll get access to tons of add-ons. Therefore, you can fully customize the software to suit the needs of your business.