Square: Everything You Need to Know

Meeting Jack Dorsey: My Take on Square's Pros and Cons (Yes, There's a Story!).
‍

What I love about what Jack and the Square team did is their pioneering approach to transparent, simple pricing that's both clear and widely accessible to the masses.
‍

I believe in empowering entrepreneurs, and making it simple and convenient to take payments. Square helped pioneer that in a big way. 
‍

Square is a popular credit card processing company that has revolutionized the way small businesses accept payments. Founded in 2009 by Jack Dorsey (who I ran into on the street in San Fransisco - wild story here), the co-founder of Twitter, Square has quickly become a household name in the payments industry. 
‍

What I love about Square, is how they pioneered transparent, clear, simple pricing, and made it available and widely accessible for the masses. But it's not all sunshine and roses.
‍

Let's take a closer look at Square and evaluate their pros and cons.
‍

Fast forward to today
‍

Today, Square is great in certain situations, but disappointing in others. 
‍

What they do well: 
‍

If you know exactly what you need and are doing low volume, then Square can be a great solution!
‍

What Square doesn’t do: 
‍

Square doesn’t have a dedicated payment processing advisor. So it’s on you to figure out the myriad of options, hardware solutions, software solutions, integrations, etc that you might need. 
‍

You might be thinking “Do I have a good rate? Do I need to do emailed invoicing? Do I need a pay-now button for my website? Should I be storing credit cards? Is that secure? Should I be doing recurring payments? Should I be tracking inventory? How do I do all these things?”
‍

And that’s where we at Polaris come in. 
‍

Dedicated Payment Processing Advisors

Square doesn’t have them. You’re on your own. You might be busy running your company and providing the great services and products that you provide. But on top of that you’ll ALSO have to figure out Square, and how it can best support your business. 
‍

Square’s Reviews 

Square has a 1 star rating, out of 152 reviews at the time of this writing, according to the website SiteJabber. Merchants considering using them should take that into account when considering using Square for payment processing.

Square is a great solution for: 

• Merchants doing less than $5,000 per month
• Merchants already set up with Square (and happy)
• Merchants using a software that integrate with Square

Pros:

1. Easy to use: One of the biggest advantages of Square is its simplicity. It's easy to set up and use, making it an ideal option for small business owners who may not have a lot of technical expertise.
   ‍
2. No monthly fees: Unlike some credit card processing companies, Square does not charge any monthly fees. This can save small business owners a significant amount of money over time.
   ‍
3. Fast deposits: Square offers next-day deposits for most transactions, which means that businesses can access their funds quickly.
   ‍
4. Wide range of services: In addition to credit card processing, Square offers a wide range of services such as payroll, inventory management, and marketing tools.
   ‍
5. Transparent pricing: Square's pricing is transparent and easy to understand, which makes it easier for businesses to budget for their payment processing costs.

Cons:

• High transaction fees: Square charges a higher transaction fee compared to some other processors. This can be a significant disadvantage for businesses that process a large number of transactions.
  ‍
• Limited customer support: Some users have reported issues with Square's customer support. While they do offer phone and email support, some customers have reported difficulty getting their issues resolved in a timely manner.
  ‍
• Limited customization: Square's point-of-sale system is designed to be simple and easy to use, which means that there are limitations when it comes to customization.

Pricing:

Square's pricing is transparent. They charge a flat rate of 2.6% + 10 cents per transaction for in-person payments and 2.9% + 30 cents per transaction for online payments. There are no monthly fees or setup fees. This pricing model can be beneficial for small businesses that process a low volume of transactions. However, for businesses that process a higher volume of transactions, this pricing model can become more expensive than other processors that offer lower transaction fees.

For example, if a business processes $10,000 in transactions per month, they would pay $260 in fees with Square. However, if they used a processor that charges 2% + 20 cents per transaction, they would only pay $220 in fees for the same amount of transactions.

‍

Wrap Up

Overall, Square is a great option for small businesses that are looking for a simple and easy-to-use payment processing system. However, businesses that process a high volume of transactions may want to consider other processors that offer lower transaction fees.

‍