Is Square available in New Zealand

[MurrayCorps]

I read an article that advised Square was able to accept Credit Card processing in New Zealand. Now that I have signed up, the website is saying this is not the case. Which is correct ?

If Not, when will Square processing be available ?

Also, will Square be able to process EftPos payments ?

[Seamus]

Hey @powerheadmc,

Thanks for getting in touch.

To be honestly, I'm not actually sure if this will work or not. This integration is built by Xero rather than Square, so you'd need to get in touch with them to determine if it's going to work with a NZ Square account that doesn't feature card processing.

You could also check out the Xero-Square integration made by Amaka. Again, I'm not sure if this will work with a NZ Square account, however it's worth asking the question!

[lickthis]

Hi - We would like to use Square here in NZ. Our friends in Australia have a similar business to ours (we both have Ice cream Parlours) and they keep raving about how good it is. When will it be available here for Kiwi's - we need a boost - we only did 0.7% of our normal April sales because we were shut down as a result of Covid19 restrictions

[MERKABANZ]

@Seamus Can Square not move into nz because Paymark has the monopoly on card based payments?

I am bitter that this is taking so long for Square to move into this payment space in NZ and I don't know where to place my frustration at the powers at be in NZ or the powers at be at square?

All I mean is that's transparency would be largely appreciated by all.

Cheers

[hiteknz]

I think it's time action is taken against the institutions in New Zealand

Clarification is needed first. Can square fully function in New Zealand?

I'm going to assume the banking or financial sector will not allow square to be integrated into small / medium sized businesses bank accounts

In theory the industry would make higher profits if businesses couldn't use payment services like Square & would be highly motivated to keep Square out

What would be the reason why Square and the eftpos reading tag not be available here? Surely the New Zealand market would be profitable enough to pursue

Could someone from Square explain why the service isn't working here so that action can be taken against local authorities to make it happen

Thanks!

[Seamus]

Hi @lickthis, @MERKABANZ and @hiteknz,

Thanks for getting in touch. We appreciate your enthusiasm for Square and understand our payment processing services would be useful for NZ merchants, and sellers around the world!

At the moment Square is available for payment processing in Australia, USA, Canada, UK and Japan. Expanding into new territories and markets is something we've done before, however I don't have any information as to if or when we might launch payments in New Zealand, or any given country. We certainly track feedback and demand though, thank you for adding your support!

[lickthis]

I hope that Square makes it to NZ someday - if I can help in anyway let me know.

[hiteknz]

Who would be the right person at Square to talk to regarding expansion in New Zealand

There is a black hole of a market gap here for this type of service

[Seamus]

Hey @hiteknz,

There's nobody you can specifically talk to about this unfortunately - these sorts of major business decisions are made by business teams who manage wider company operations. We appreciate your enthusiasm and can pass your feedback up the chain, but we're not able to have a one on one discussion regarding the possibility of Square payments expanding to new countries. Sorry I couldn't be of more help here!

[hiteknz]

It would be unfortunate if we did not get a resolution or timeframe to such a serious problem in the New Zealand small business market

Any good business team would see a market of 5 million consumers & businesses that serve them a good market to get into

Square is a good company they have a positive worldwide reputation. In New Zealand the days of Ingenico, Eftpos, Verifone are numbered provided services like Square can enter & are willing to do so. We have monopolized market here & every business is motivated to change if the option is available

I am going to presume there is a wall that is either fronted by financial institutions or the government. We need to know what this is so locally it can be petitioned & challenged

I'd be happy to publicly post invoices from our current transaction provider to add transparency to why it is important we can get access to a service like Square

Do you have a manager that can assist with this thread?

[HTKHTK]

Another enthusiastic business owner who would love to see Square in NZ. I've come from Melbourne Australia where I used Square readers at markets and POS. It was fantastic and definitely felt good sticking it to the Banks. I've bought my business back to NZ and I'm disappointed Square is not usable in NZ 😞 It's such a wasted opportunity for Square. Please bring Square to NZ and disrupt the banks who have a monopoly on POS services.

[logangorilla]

Welcome to the Square NZ graveyard HTKHTK  😀

I've been waiting for YEARS for any sign of life for potential NZ customers.  I think we will be stuck with ancient EFTPOS terminals and overpriced POS systems until at least 2080.

[Seamus]

@MurrayCorps @logangorilla We certainly appreciate your enthusiasm for Square - I agree that it would be a great tool for merchants in NZ!

I wish I had better news to share with you here, but the situation is unfortunately the same as it's always been - no plans at the moment. With that said, I will continue to share feedback from New Zealanders internally and make sure as a company we're still aware of the demand coming from NZ.

[MERKABANZ]

Did some research, realised Jack Dorsey is in charge, which brought on the realisation this desire to have square in nz is futile. Realised life is just what it is 😕

The company that runs this operation is too big to know where is going or how it's moving, all while trying not to fall over.

*sad noises*

[Shane2416]

Cheers for your patience with us Kiwis Seamus.

Have I got this right?

I can use square POS and run an eftpos machine alongside at the counter then just click "cash"

 regards Shane

[Personal Information Redacted]

[Laurie_]

Hey there @Shane2416,

Thanks for reaching out to us here with your question! I've gone ahead and removed your email address from your comment in the interest of maintaining security. Please be mindful when sharing information in the Seller Community as this is a public platform. 😊

That is correct, while you won't be able to process card payments using Square, you can still use the point of sale software to record cash sales and payments collected outside of Square for reporting purposes.

Let me know if you have any further questions!

[Silverfoxbins]

Hi there, we have a trucking business here in New Zealand and we hire out Skip bins - see our website: https://www.silverfoxbins.co.nz/ can Square be used so that customers can book a bin online for the 5 Day Rental period and the website remind them, that it is due for pickup but also keep track of our skip bin inventory so we don't forget a bin pickup?

regards, Tania

[Seamus]

Hey @Silverfoxbins,

I've moved your thread to this one where we're tracking feedback on requests for Square to be available in NZ for payments processing.

Unfortunately Square isn't currently available a a card payment processor in NZ - we're available for payments in the US, Canada, Australia, Japan and the UK at the moment.

We may expand to different markets in the future, however I don't have any info as to if and when we may launch in any given country. Sorry I couldn't be of more help here!

[Asht]

Hi Seamus, i just had a few questions and thought that this would be the easiest way to contact square. Im currently doing a international business project for university in australia and exploring companies and expansion into international markets. I just wanted to know whether it was just the square card processed payments that wasn't available in New Zealand. For example if an Australian business had NZ customers, would square still process the payments from New Zealand Currency etc. or is it just that none of the Square products are compatible with New Zealand. Also if you have any insight towards why there may be hesitation to enter the New Zealand market. Thank you 

[Seamus]

Hey @Asht, thanks for reaching out!

At the moment, Square is able to provide card payment processing facilities to business in the the US, Canada, Japan, Australia, UK, and most recently Ireland. Square merchants in these countries are able absolutely able to take payments from customers in other countries, such as New Zealand! When this occurs, the card holder's provider will perform a currency conversion based on exchange rates at the time, and that the Square merchant gets paid in their native currency. Similar to how if you've ever bought anything on an overseas website, your bank or credit provider will charge you a different amount in AUD based on exchange rates. This applies to:

• Transactions done online - eg a customer residing in NZ, ordering from an Australian Square Online website
• Transactions done in person - eg a New Zealander visiting Australia with a compatible card, using a card reader at a business

In both instances, the customer will need to be using a card type accepted by Square (eg (Visa, Mastercard, Amex).

In terms of international expansion for our payments products, It's worth noting that as a company we've expanded into various different markets since starting out in the US, as highlighted above! I can't say I have any insight into how expansion decisions are made at a higher level business level though, or the reasoning behind why we have or haven't expanded into a given country.

One thing that's worth noting is our free international version of the Square Point of Sale app, that global businesses can use to help run their business and track their sales. You can read more on this here. It doesn't have card payment processing available, but it is a pretty useful free point of sale tool for businesses around the world! 

[goodytimes90]

WE NEED SQUARE IN NZ. please can you add this!! Small businesses here galore, would make life so much easier. We use Square in Melbourne and its done wonders for us. We now have a business in NZ and would love to use Square service here too!

[Arie]

I agree, @goodytimes90! We're looking to bring Square to more international markets - while we don't have an update to share here yet, we'll tag everyone in this thread once we have news.