Square Banking Q&A with Christina Riechers 🏦

[isabelle]

Hey Seller Community! ✨We’re very excited to announce that on 9/16 at 2pm PST | 5pm EST, we’ll be hosting a Q&A with Square Banking's Head of Product, Christina Riechers!

Christina Riechers has been with Square for 6 years and is Square Banking's Head of Product. She was the founding Product Manager of the Square Debit Card, and before that, the first Product Manager of Instant Transfers. Christina is passionate about helping small business owners with cash flow products that give them more control over their finances to thrive in their business.  

We will be selecting 10 of your replies for Christina to answer on recorded video. Joined with her on video will be our Super Seller, @pessosices, asking your questions. The video will then be posted on 9/16 for you all to see!

Please reply to this post with any questions you may have related to: 

• Square Checking 
• Square Debit Card 
• Square Savings 
• Square Loans 

For those of you who reply to this post with a question that isn’t selected for Christina to answer, we will do our best to answer all of your questions via text in the thread below. 

Some example questions include: 

• Why did you start Square Banking?
• What do you hope Square Banking can provide Square sellers?
• What are the advantages of using Square Banking over a traditional Business Bank account?
• Can I deposit and write checks with a Square Checking Account?

Note on account-specific questions: For your privacy and security, we are not able to address issues related to specific account status details in our public forums. If you need account assistance, please contact our Customer Success team and they'll be able to take a deeper dive.

[#2]

Thank you SO much to everyone who participated in this Q&A by asking a question for our Square Banking's Head of Product, Christina Riechers! 

We selected 10 seller-asked questions from this Q&A, which were asked by our Super Seller @pessosices, and answered by Christina Riechers in the video below!

We will do our best to answer the rest of the questions via written reply directly in the Q&A.

A note on question #8 regarding transfers and limits: 

Christina answered based on our current spending limits. For more information on spending limits, take a look here. If you're just looking to withdraw funds from your Square Checking or Savings account, there is currently a $50k per day limit for Square Savings. Square Checking has no withdraw limits. See further instruction within the thread below. 

Disclaimer:

Square, Inc. is not a bank. Banking services are provided by Square Financial Services, Inc. or Sutton Bank; Members FDIC.  Square, the Square logo, Square Financial Services, Square Capital, and others are trademarks of Square, Inc. and/or its subsidiaries.  Square Financial Services, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Square, Inc.

All loans and Savings accounts are issued by Square Financial Services, Inc. a Utah-Chartered Industrial Bank. Member FDIC. Actual fee depends upon payment card processing history, loan amount and other eligibility factors. A minimum payment of 1/18th of the initial loan balance is required every 60 days and full loan repayment is required within 18 months. Loan eligibility is not guaranteed. All loans are subject to credit approval.

Square Checking is provided by Sutton Bank, Member FDIC. Square Debit Card is issued by Sutton Bank, Member FDIC, pursuant to a license from Mastercard International Incorporated, and may be used wherever Mastercard is accepted. Funds generated through Square’s payment processing services are generally available in the Square checking account balance immediately after a payment is processed. Fund availability times may vary due to technical issues. Accounts are FDIC-insured up to $250,000.

[Twpchair]

Thank you!

[pessosices]

Thanks so much for this awesome opportunity!

I'm really looking forward to getting to ask Christina some of these amazing questions from other sellers.

I have a few questions myself:

What's the difference between Square Banking and a traditional Business Bank account? What makes it stand out and what makes it a good choice for small businesses?

Square Loans have been incredibly helpful to keeping my business afloat over the last couple of years. How do Loans integrate with Square Banking as a whole moving forward? Are they changing or improving?

[Twpchair]

Following this as well!

[isabelle]

Hi @pessosices & @Twpchair ! 

Take a look at Christina’s Q&A video for the answer to both of @pessosices's questions! 😊

She covered four key differences:

1. Instant access to sales proceeds with Square Checking. 
2. Automated savings integrated with your sales. Folders to organize your funds for the future. 
3. It’s all in one place! Take payments, manage your money, customers and more - all from same web dashboard or on your phone 
4. Lastly- the accounts are free! There are no monthly account fees, no minimums, and no overdraft fees. 

To paraphrase her reply on your question about loans:

So glad to hear that Loans have been helpful. We’re always looking for ways to improve the banking experience. Square Loans aren’t going anywhere. Soon, Square Loans will be able to be instantly deposited into your Square Checking account, enabling you to spend the money as soon as you accept your loan offer. The Community is a great place for you to post about any other Square Banking feature requests! We want to hear from you!

Check out the video for more detail 😊

[JUYBoutique20]

Will we be able to open more than one account for banking and savings?  Will you be offering mobile banking to deposit cash sales, example, I buy money orders to deposit through mobile banking?

[isabelle]

Hey @JUYBoutique20 💕

Christina Riechers answered this question in the Q&A video - please go check it out!  

To paraphrase:

You can open one Square Checking account for each Square location that you have. So if you have multiple locations, you can have multiple Checking accounts, one for each.

You can only have one Square Savings account across your Square account. However, within your single Savings account, you can set up multiple folders to organize and manage your money.

We don’t have a timeline to share as far as when you’ll be able to have more than one Square Savings account for a Square account. Thank you for participating in this Q&A! 

[erikjones]

Really excited that Square has added banking into the mix! Would love to ask some questions... 

As far as Square Loans are concerned, it seems as though the repayment is similar to that of a total daily sales royalty - with the repayment amount following the ebbs and flows of sales, instead of just a flat daily or monthly charge. Will there be optionality to increase that percentage should the business choose to do so? Will there be penalties for early loan pay-offs? Can you clarify the difference between a (no-penalty) prepayment and an early loan pay-off? Is this royalty-like structure the only option that will be made available for repayment?

As for Square Checking and Savings, I'm curious about the structuring of multiple entity banking in particular. For example, if a parent company LLC was the primary company/contact for Square, and that company had several locations (each a separate LLC), would Square be able to make that more seamless than a traditional bank? Similar to Square Online that sort of makes each location a sub-account - for lack of a better term - providing a means for each location to separated by sales and processing, etc. 

To bring that back to the Loans for a moment, will maintaining business checking and (eventually) savings accounts with Square increase access to capital? Similar to how a traditional bank may be more inclined to approve a loan for a customer that has been banking with them for a decade. 

And finally, a few last thoughts on Square's dive into banking. Considering that using the full line of services would provide Square a deeper insight into the true health of a company, my hope would be that it also creates an avenue to help provide a more catered education for, and relationship with, entrepreneurs. On that note, are there any plans for the implementation or introduction of Bitcoin or other digital currencies to Square's financial services? Is there any aspect of it that you might be able to discuss? I feel like this would provide a pathway for Square to become a merchant educator within the space. 

Apologies for the lengthy message! 

Thanks for the time - looking forward to seeing this! 

[isabelle]

Hey @erikjones ⚡️

At this time we are unable to manually increase the repayment percentage outlined in your loan agreement.

One of the benefits of a Square Loan is flexible repayments—paying a fixed percentage of daily card sales allows you to pay more when you’re busy and less if things slow down.

If you’d like to submit an additional payment or pay off your loan’s full outstanding balance, you’re able to do so at any time from your online Square Dashboard. There’s no penalty for early repayment.

However, the fee rate associated with your loan offers cannot be adjusted. The amount you owe never changes, and you can make early prepayments at no additional cost.

As for the rest of your questions around LCC and the benefits of Square Banking, please take a look at Christina’s video!

[true2texas2]

We fall under a corporate structure and the bank does not allow us to build upon the success with the bank and savings products, how can we separate companies and take advantage of banking and saving?

[true2texas2]

I like this response from @erikjones I have the same questions. As for Square Checking and Savings, I'm curious about the structuring of multiple entity banking in particular. For example, if a parent company LLC was the primary company/contact for Square, and that company had several locations (each a separate LLC), would Square be able to make that more seamless than a traditional bank? Similar to Square Online that sort of makes each location a sub-account - for lack of a better term - providing a means for each location to be separated by sales and processing, etc. 

Today it appears that if you are an LLC with multiple companies (shops) you cannot use the service am I right or is Customer Support not have updated information?

[golden_pond_llc]

Hi Isabelle:

I want to know why we cannot open a savings account for our small business which is presently structured as an LLC and has an employer identification number? The whole point of opening a Square checking was to also have the savings function so that we could effectively manage our cash flow and earn some interest income. So, imagine my surprise when, after all the ballyhoo about your new banking accounts, I couldn't open a savings account. I really wanted to simply close the account as I thought your advertising was misleading and misrepresented what Square was offering. So, I would appreciate an answer to this question.

Regards,

Julie Lowrie

Managing Member

Golden Pond Water Plants LLC

[tankspaintball]

I agree with you as well. Another issue is why only 1 card with the account. Having several for staff would be great! 

[isabelle]

Hey @golden_pond_llc & @tankspaintball !

Please take a look at the Q&A video and hear how Christina addresses the current LLC limitation! 

[Wolfegirl517]

I have transactions that are there but not in my available balance nor can I pull any cash out of my account via square card .

had to refund a amount yesterday because it was in the acct under transaction but no under available balance what is going on ?! 
melissa 

[libertydeli]

Where do I find/download my loan statements from??

[Minion]

---

@libertydeli wrote:

Where do I find/download my loan statements from??

---

From the Dashboard, Choose Loans, you can think choose the loan you want to download statements for.  There is an export button above the transactions section of the loan to export to csv file.

[fr_nick]

I've had some disheartening experiences with the "checking account" and will list them here for you.

#1 There is no method to send money to vendors, such as an ach transfer. Clicking the transfer out button, brings up a modal that asks you how much you want to send and on what schedule. As a user who has maybe 20 other accounts I assume that the next screen would be "where would you like to send the money". But NO the next screen informs you that you have sent the money to your one linked account. And even if you picked the slow method, it is irreversible. This is inconvenient because you have launched a financial product that can only send money to one destination. But is becomes BAD because the send money screen does not say the money will be sent to account ending in ####. 

Even if I would only be able to send money to my own linked accounts it could be useful if I could quickly change which of my linked accounts I was sending money from , is that possible , I don't know I have abandoned the interface, linked the account to my citibank account and am relying on the citibank interface to pick up the slack that square could not.

2. The checking account is apparently in my personal name. I consider square to be a business product, I send business invoices and receive payments to my business. But with this checking account, wires sent to my business name... will be returned. 

3. This "checking account" has somehow opted out of the zelle network which has near universal adoption in US banking. That galvanizes the fact that this product is either an overbranded debit card or the least useful checking account in the history of financial services.  

Overall my experiences with square checking account have demonstrated that this is a personal debit card with a routing number attached and no other features. Calling it a checking account implies that there will be more functionality than the program currently offers. The sparse UI leaves it up to the consumer to discover the inadequacies of the product. 

[TWR]

I'm a single member LLC. When can we get a savings account? 

[isabelle]

Hey @TWR ! Your question was addressed in the Q&A video! Please check it out. 

[bnaconstruction]

does failed refunds go back into your square checking if so how long does it take??? 

[RML20]

I have been trying to change my bank routing information to send my payments to my business checking but it never has sent me a confirmation to my email so i can confirm it, so essentially you guys are sending my payments to the wrong account.  I just changed the name, and I entered in the routing and account information several weeks ago yet it still says waiting confirmation.  is there a glitch in your system on your end?  I can not have my business funds co-mingling with my private accounts.